A New Start
by sorryireadtoomuch
Summary: Trying to balance a life at Camp Half Blood and a life at New York Prep High School, Annabeth, Percy, Piper, Jason, Leo, Calypso, and Nico learn that conquering school is harder than any quest. Percabeth, Jasper, Caleo. I update every 2-3 days, not complete yet.
1. Chapter 1

Nico looked in the mirror. Through it, he could see no one but himself. Of course, who else would be in the Hades cabin. Well, there was the slight chance that he would share it with Hazel, but after the war she and Frank chose to go back to Camp Jupiter (promising to visit) and Nico decided to finally anchor down somewhere. Camp Half Blood it is.

He was wearing dark jeans and a white t-shirt, with a black leather jacket on top. It was supposed to be warm out today, but there was no such thing as too much black. Nico was confused about why he felt this nervous. He told himself that it was only school and he had nothing to be worried about. But then again, he'd never been to high school, and this was his freshman year.

He took a deep breath and turned around, facing his closet. Nico didn't own much; a couple more pairs of dark jeans, another dark jacket, a black hoodie, a couple more t-shirts, a toothbrush, and of course his sword. What else did he need?

"I'm getting him, I'm getting him!"

Leo bursted through the doors of the Hades Cabin with a gigantic smile plastered on his face, "Hey we gotta go. Percy convinced Chiron to let us drive ourselves to NYP!" Leo then saw what Nico was wearing and frowned. "Dude, it's hot outside."

Nico shrugged, "I don't really care."

"Whatever man," Leo changed his tone to a higher, motherly tone, "Are you ready for your first day of school, sweety?"

Nico rolled his eyes, "Let's just go."

When they met the rest of their friends in the van, everyone was polished and ready to go with backpacks sitting in their laps. Nico and Leo crawled through the trunk into the far back seat. Percy turned around from the drivers seat and flashed a bright white smile, "Everyone buckled?"

"Where's my-"

Leo cut off Nico by throwing a backpack on Nico's lap.

"Nevermind."

Percy laughed and Annabeth turned around from the from seat. "Nico, seriously? It was in the trunk, you jumped right over it."

"Yeah, yeah," Nico taunted, "Just drive."

Percy smiled again at everyone behind him, "With pleasure." And he slammed on the gas."

When they pulled up in the school parking lot, Calypso was the first one to jump out. "My gods, Percy. Do all humans drive like that?"

Percy flashed her another bright smile, "Only those above the law."

Everyone got out of the car and shouldered their backpacks. They stood together facing the school. Piper took a deep breath, "Ready?"

Leo was the first to move, he began walking into school. "Yeah, ready to make this school my bitch."

_**A/N: It'll get more entertaining I swear, review to let me know what you think! Thank you for reading(:**_


	2. Chapter 2

First period was painless enough. All of Annabeth's supplies were neat and organized. She sat in the back by herself listening to her AP Government teacher ramble on about how flawed American government was until the bell rang. She packed up her stuff and shouldered her backpack, ready to meet Percy in Geometry second period. But her plans were lead astray when a girl stepped in front of her.

"Hey, I'm Becca. You're new here, right?" Becca's long brown hair was straight and went all the way down to her butt. She had on a lot of black eye makeup that was surrounded by bright pink eye shadow. She wore shorts so short, Annabeth didn't even have to see behind Becca to know that her butt was hanging out. Her tight tank top was covered by a fishnet shirt, like it somehow made it less scandalous. Her smiled was one that automatically made Annabeth groan. She'd seen it before, on her Step-Mom. It screamed fake and tolerating. Didn't actually care, just hoping to get something out of being so nice to Annabeth.

Before Annabeth could answer her, Becca continued, "I mean, you must be new. I would have noticed you earlier. You're like, so pretty."

"I-"

"Oh my god, is your hair color natural?"

Annabeth took her blond ponytail in her hand, "Yeah."

"Whoa," Becca's face lite up. "That's so cool. And you're so tan, are you from around here?"

Annabeth cracked her fingers behind her back in aggravation, but answered Becca anyway, "I'm actually from California, but I've been back and forth between there and New York for a long time."

"Whoa, that's like, so cool." She took Annabeth's arm in her's, leading her out into the hallway. "We have to hangout sometime. Here," she took out her phone, "What's your number?"

"I don't have one," Annabeth shrugged.

Becca looked at Annabeth like she suddenly turned into an alien, "You don't have a number? What?"

Annabeth laughed in amusement, "A phone."

Becca stared at her for a moment before answering, "Weird." Becca's face lite right back up as she walked Annabeth down the halls, "But it's okay, because we can still be friends. I-"

Becca was cut off by her phone vibrating in her hand, her face went blank as she read the text on the screen. "Whoa, cool!" She looked up at Annabeth, "Guess what? Two more hot guys! I love new school years. Jess just told me. She's talking to them by the science building, come on!" And Becca dragged her through the halls.

When they arrived at what was apparently the science building, Annabeth laughed. She saw an annoyed Percy standing with a confused Jason and a girl with short blond hair and tight jeans.

Becca leaned over to Annabeth and whispered, "Whoa, dibs on the hot one with black hair. Looks like Jess already has dibs on the blond guy. It's okay though, you can still stare."

When they walked up to them, the girl with short blond hair who Annabeth figured was Jess, turned to Becca, "You're here!" she faced the boys, "Percy, Jason, this is Becca."

Becca flashed a smile at Percy and then turned to Annabeth, "And guys this is…" Becca frowned and said in a cold tone,b "Oh my god I didn't even get your name."

"It's Anna-"

"So where are you guys from?" Becca asked Percy.

Percy smiled and took a step toward Becca. He gave her his hottest smirk that made Annabeth forget what was going on for a minute. Percy offered out his hand to Becca, which she took with her own shaking hand. "Thank you so much," he said seductively and soft, "For bringing over by girlfriend."

Percy then turned to Annabeth and kissed her so hard and passionately that she forgot that Becca, Jess, and Jason were standing there. Annabeth melted into his lips and gripped his scruffy black hair. He pulled away with a smirk, "Hey babe, how was first period?"

When Annabeth caught her breath, she answered, "Made a friend. Her name's… uhm," still wrapped in Percy's arms, she looked over to Becca, "Oh my god!" she said in a mocking tone, "I didn't even get your name!"

Becca put her hands on her hips in anger, "Seriously?" she grabbed Jess's hand who grabbed Jason's, "Come on guys, let's go."

Jason loosened her grip from his hand, "Actually I'll go with Annabeth and Percy."

Before the girls could react, Piper walked up and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek. "Hey Superman, who are they?" she asked sweetly.

Jess angrily grabbed Becca's arm and stormed away.

"Nice to meet you," Piper said as they walked away.


	3. Chapter 3

Leo took another bite of his sandwich and sighed, "Guys I still can't believe I missed it."

Annabeth didn't look up from her plate, "There wasn't much you missed."

After taking a sip, Percy set down his soda. "Are you serious?" he looked at his girlfriend. "You were such a badass!"

"Seriously?!" Annabeth tried not to laugh, "What about that kiss huh? And the hot little smirk you gave her?"

Percy crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue, "Oh this one?" Annabeth gave Percy a light hit and laughed. Percy caught her hand and held it to his chest, "Making excuses to touch me, Ms. Chase?"

In defeat, Annabeth threw her head back in laughter.

Percy looked at her lovingly, "There's that beautiful laugh!"

Andrew:

From across the lunchroom, Andrew watched the group of demigods, not knowing just how different they really were. "Did they seriously do that?" he asked his best friend Becca.

"Seriously," she said over her untouched, homemade sandwich.

"Yeah, I saw it!" Jess exclaimed from across the table.

"That's actually so fucking rude," Brandon sighed. Him and the other guys around the table all wearing their football jersey's nodded in agreement.

Andrew's eyes fell to the girls at the table to the right of them, the cheerleaders. They seemed to notice the new group of what seemed to be superheros. First off, they were all extremely attractive. Three really hot girls and four hot dudes. Andrew wasn't even gay, and he could tell that much.

The other weird thing was that, unlike most groups of friends at school, these kids were all different ages. After doing 4 class periods of research, Andrew found out that the smallest creepy guy is a freshman and he's the only single one. The blond dude's with the brunette chick, who's hot as hell, and Andrew thinks that they're sophomores. The mexican looking dude seems to be with younger blond chick, and Andrew thinks that they're also sophomores. But the last two kids, the devious dude with black hair and green eyes and the older hot blond chick, are seniors.

The freshman in black noticed Andrew staring at the superhero's, she he quickly averted his glare.

"What I don't get," Andrew asked his friend Jake, "is why the hot blond is with that tool."

"The one in our grade?" Jess butt in. "Ugh I hate that bitch, you think she's hot?"

"Yeah she's a total bitch," Becca added.

"Seriously!" Jess added. "And talk about PDA, she started getting with her boyfriend like, right in front of us."

Becca nodded, "It was disgusting."

Andrew's eyes floated to the superhero table again. The hot blond, apparently named Annabeth, threw her head back in laughter and lightly hit her boyfriend on his chest. He grabbed it and held it to his chest with a smile plastered on his face, but Andrew was focused on the girl. He couldn't make out what color her eyes were. But even from across the lunchroom, he could see how intimidating they are. Not a bright color, but not a brown. Lighter than a black though.

"Dude?"

Andrew snapped back to his friends, "Whoa sorry."

Brandon, Jake, Becca, and Jess all watched him carefully.

"We're you looking at them again?" Jess asked.

"Nah, I was just thinking about the game tomorrow," he lied.

_**A/N: Yay first 3 chapters done! I hope you guys like it so far. I know this one wasn't funny or anything, but I'm trying to work on that haha. Please let me know how you guys are liking or disliking this story!**_

_**Next chapter will be just our favorites back at CHB, I'm excited to write it!**_

_**Thanks for reading(:**_


	4. Chapter 4

It's nice - Annabeth decided - being home.

She sits by the lake where she first kissed her wonderful boyfriend about a year ago. Now, her boyfriend sits next to her, enveloping her in his arms. The mix of the homey smell of the lake, the faint smell of strawberries, and her boyfriend's salty ocean scent illuminating off of him like his own aura, calms Annabeth. It always has.

He kisses her forehead and pulls her closer.

She closes her eyes, and for a moment, she refuses to open them; scared that when she does, she'll be back in Tartarus. Skin crumbling, hope fading. Then she feels her boyfriends grip around her and realizes that no matter where she is, he's there. So it'll be okay.

As if reading her mind, he says, "It's okay, Annabeth."

"I know," she says, not missing a beat.

He doesn't believe her. He can always see through her Daughter-of-Wisdom thing. Though, he's very good at pretending that he doesn't. So instead of talking it out of her, he holds her tighter. Which is all she needs.

"FEW TIMES I'VE BEEN AROUND THAT TRACK AND I HATE EVERYONE AT OUR SCHOOL CAUSE I AIN'T NO HOLLA BACK GUUURRRLLL."

Leo lead the way to the lake butchering a Gwen Stefani song. Annabeth could hear Calypso dragging her feet behind him. "Where are you taking me now?"

"We're just crashing a little party, Leo-Style! AHHH there y'all are!"

Annabeth can practically hear Calypso rolling her eyes.

As Leo comes into sight, Annabeth can see him wagging his finger. He uses his best mexican motherly tone to nag at them, "Mijos! It is a school night, you all should be en tus camas ASLEEP, AHORA!"

Percy doesn't let go of Annabeth as he replies to Leo. "Excuse yourself, son," he says very fatherly, "I believe it's past your bedtime, young sophomore."

"You make a good point," Leo replies, sitting down in front of them and grabbing his girlfriend onto his lap. "Aren't you guys seniors? Should you guys be partying or some shit?"

Percy gestures to the empty beach around them, "We are partying, can't you tell?"

Calypso laughed, "Yeah you guys party too hard."

"Like any of us would know what partying actually is," Annabeth sighs.

"Kids at school were talking about a party this weekend," Calypso says shyly, looking down at her hands. "They invited me, during last period. Said I could bring my "superhero posse" or whatever."

Leo's face lights up to the sound of a party. "Wait seriously? We got invited to a party?!"

Annabeth laughed to herself that Leo didn't realize that Calypso probably got invited by guys, not realizing that she has a boyfriend. But Annabeth decided that it probably wasn't the best time. Leo fist pumped the air. From his lap, Calypso rolled her eyes and giggled. Annabeth couldn't help but think how dedicated Calypso must have been to be putting up with Leo's terrible jokes. But Annabeth took one look at the sparkle in Calypso's eyes and knew that with every bad impression, she was falling harder.

"What are we sitting here for?!" Leo got up and grabbed his girlfriend. "Let's go tell the others."

Annabeth got up, wiped off her jeans, and then helped her boyfriend up. "But isn't it lights out soon? We should be getting back to our cabins."

Leo laughed, "Percy, I thought we were above the law, right?"

And with a smirk from Percy, Annabeth knew they weren't sleeping tonight.

_**A/N: Hey guys! Let me know what you guys think so far, thanks for reading(:**_


	5. Chapter 5 - The Party: Part 1

_**A/N: thanks to everyone who's reading, I try to update everyday, but I may slow it down! I wanna get more reviews and follows (whoa that sounded terrible) but you get it. Plus I wanna work on making the chapters better and funnier.**_

_**This chapter, in my opinion, in just badass. Review and let me know what you guys think! Thank you(:**_

The Party

Nico:

They could have specified that it was a senior party. Nico was the only freshman there. But it didn't really matter, everyone treated him like royalty. Every time they turned around, there were people staring in awe. Nico wasn't used to awe. But the second he was left alone, eyebrows knit and people wondered.

Why's that creepy freshman here?

He's with the superhero's.

But why's he alone?

Do you wanna talk to him?

Well, no.

Creepy.

Why isn't he talking to anyone?

Nico asked himself the same question. Everyone else was socializing, why wasn't he? Quite honestly, he didn't feel like it. When Nico looked around, it seemed like everyone was having the same conversation; school, sucky teachers, hot kids, annoying parents. But one conversation caught his ear.

"So what's the plan to get rid of Percy?" Nico ducked behind a table to listen in.

"Brandon, I told you. First we have separate Annabeth and Percy." Nico rolled his eyes. Good luck, he thought.

"How're we gonna do that?" a kid, must have been Brandon, asked.

"I can do it," answered a female voice. "Just get them dancing and I can take care of him. Then you guys can do whatever with Annabeth, I hate that bitch so I don't care."

The first male speaker answered, "Okay good plan Becca. What about you Jess?"

Jess, Nico suspected, answered, "I'm out. I think you guys are fucking stupid. Do whatever you want, I'm gonna take another shot."

Nico heard Jess's footstep leave the area. "Whatever," Becca said. "She's being fucking gay. So who's gonna get them dan-"

"Looks like we don't have to," Brandon interrupted. Nico couldn't see where they were looking, but it made him nervous.

If there was anything that Nico learned in his two days of high school (which really wasn't much), it was that people suck. More than often, the people in question are high school students. Nico popped his head up from under the table to see that the teenagers were gone. He stood up and looked around before realizing that even if he saw them, he wouldn't recognize them. He knew their voices and names, not their faces.

Whatever those seniors were planning, it couldn't be good.

So Nico went looking for Percy.

Annabeth:

This would usually be about the time that Annabeth began to regret any bad decisions made in the night, but the alcohol in her system didn't leave any room for regret.

Keeping her eyes closed, she swayed her body to the rhythm of the music. She could feel Percy's hands on her hips and she could smell the liquor illuminating off his lips.

Annabeth was past the point in the night where she was convincing herself and everyone around her that "I never do this!" while sucking down another shot. She visualized the 8 tally marks on her chest that symbolized how many shots she'd taken. She pushed the thought of alcohol out of her mind and focused back to Percy.

Over the music, she could hear Percy's mumbled laughs in her ear. Before she could turn around to kiss him, he began to place kisses down her neck. She giggled and arched her back, letting Percy continue.

She went with it for a while, moving with the sound of the music, until she turned and saw that Percy was no where to be found. This snapped her back to reality, but she didn't have much time to react. A different pair of hands held her hips.

"Who..?" she slurred.

The boy behind her just smiled. He was tall, about 6'1", and he had short brown hair with dark brown eyes. He continued to move with the music, but Annabeth wasn't about to let this go any further.

She turned to face him, putting her hands on his chest to push him away, but he grabbed her hands, held them to his chest, and then winked.

"No, really. Get the fuck off me," she said louder so he could hear her over the music.

If he heard her, he didn't show it. He pulled her in closer to him breathing down her neck. As if all the alcohol in her system disappeared at once, Annabeth snapped back to reality with a slap across of the boys face.

He held his face and backed away, bewildered. "You bitch!"

If people weren't looking before, they were now. Annabeth planted her left foot and swung her right across his face, pushing him to the ground. The kick spun her around completely until she stood there facing him. He lied on the ground in pain. "I'm not," she breathed out, "your bitch."

It was now that Annabeth became aware of the whispers around her.

Did she seriously.

Oh my god!

Why'd she kick him?

How'd she do that!

But Annabeth tried to tune them out. Only one person was on her mind now. She had to find Percy.


	6. Chapter 6 - The Party: Part 2

**_A/N: Hey guys, once again, I encourage you all to check out Geek4Greek's story._**

**_On another note, this chapter is more about the party. I found it fun to write about them all at a high school party, I think it's really interesting! Let me know what you guys think about it._**

_**I've also gotten reviews about wanting longer chapters. Some will be longer, some will be shorter; it just matters where the story line is.**_

**_Once again, thanks for reading(:_**

Piper:

Piper hadn't been this entertained in years.

"Pipes!" Jason slurred. He wrapped his hands around her waist and nuzzled his head into her chest. "You smell suh grood."

"Grood?" she laughed.

He looked up at her, embarrassed. "Well," he began his story like it was going to be a 400 page novel, "I was gonna say great, but then I changed it to good and I spat out grood!"

She laughed and his face eased it. Her laugh seemed to sooth him. She kissed his head, "I should really get you home."

He nuzzled his face deeper into her chest, "No!"

"Yes," she said looking around for Percy. He had the car keys. Even though Piper didn't have her license, she was still a great driver. She had a lot of practice back when she lived with her dad. Her, uhm, juvenile days.

She thought about asking Jason where Percy was, but he was useless. "Where are those damn car keys," she mumbled to herself.

Jason seemed to hear her. He quickly let go of her and jumped into his best superhero stance, "I'll fly us home, baby!"

Piper looked around, embarrassed, but then noticed that no one was paying any attention. It was past the point in the night where Piper and her friends were the center of attention, the shiny new play toy. Now everyone was drunk or high, bumbling around, hooking up, or dancing.

Then a couple caught Piper's eye because they were doing none of those things. "Leo! Calypso!" Piper waved them over from the other side of the room. Calypso saw Piper and dragged Leo over.

"You okay?" Calypso asked Piper.

Piper shrugged, "I'll feel better once I get Superman here," she nodded her head towards Jason who was making swishing noises and pretending to fly, "out of here."

Piper was feeling lucky that Jason wasn't actually flying. He was so drunk, he probably forgot that he could.

"Do you know where Percy is? He has the car keys," Piper asked Leo.

Leo snorted, "Psh, I have them." Leo handed Piper the keys, "I saw him taking a shot, and I took the keys away."

Piper attacked Leo with a hug, "You're the best! I gotta take Jason home. Will you guys watch Annabeth, Percy, and Nico?

Leo high fived Calypso, "Hells yeah, babysitting time!" He turned to Piper, "How much do you pay?" Piper gave him a death look until he put his arms up defensively, "Hey, hey, just being reasonable."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Piper rolled her eyes. "After I put him to bed, I'll come back to get you guys, okay?"

Calypso and Leo agreed, and they went looking for Nico, Percy, and Annabeth. Piper helped Jason into the car and drove back to Camp Half Blood, thinking of ways to sneak him back into his cabin.

Percy:

Percy was slowly coming to his senses, no thanks to Becca. "Here," she offered him her red solo cup. "Wanna sip?"

He took a deep breath, trying to take in his surroundings. They were in a dimmed room with about 2 or 3 other couples making out on the couches around them. He couldn't seem to find the door, so he turned around to see if it was behind him. Becca gently reached over to grab his chin and face it toward her, "Hey, don't worry." She gave him a sweet smile, "It's just us."

Percy took her hand off of him and pushed away the cup. "Annabeth," he breathed.

Becca sighed loudly and leaned back on the sofa, "God dammit," she exasperated, "she's not even that hot. Actually," Becca leaned forward, "she's kind of a bitch."

Percy knit his eyebrows, ignoring Becca. "Where am I?" he asked.

"A party," she answered blankly, annoyed and distracted.

"I know that," Percy rubbed his head, a headache creeping up. He turned around, looking for the door. "I mean, where in the party. Like what room?" he pronounced every word slowly, trying to regain his strength and memories.

Becca loosely gestured to her right, "There's the door." She took a huge gulp of her drink and then squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep the alcohol down. "Go find your ugly bitch of a girlfriend."

That snapped Percy to his senses. He stood up slowly and timidly, then looked at Becca sternly. "You," he breathed, "need a fucking wake up call. Luckily, I'm not in the mood. I'm gonna go find my girlfriend and I'm gonna leave." He started walking towards the door. He threw his hand up in a wave, "Have a good night, see ya Monday in English."

He didn't stick around long enough to hear if she responded.


	7. Chapter 7

**_A/N: don't mind me, just reminding you all to review and let me know what you guys are thinking! thank you all for reading, enjoy the aftermath(:_**

Leo:

Leo felt like a boss.

Strutting around a senior party as a sophomore with his stunning girlfriend, Leo couldn't believe it. He wasn't drinking though, alcohol with fire boy? Hah. Not a great idea. Of course Leo wasn't famous for having great ideas, like letting Percy and Annabeth drink. Yeah, that wasn't very smart. Jason, Leo wasn't worried about. He had Piper to take care of him. And Calypso wouldn't touch alcohol, she doesn't see the point in it.

But now, 3 hours after arriving at the party, he was searching every room looking for Percy and Annabeth. He held Calypso by the hand, leading her across the dance floor. He looked for blond and black hair moving together in rhythm, but he couldn't find them.

He turned to Calypso and yelled over the music, "You see them?"

With her eyes still on the crowd, she shook her head no.

Leo sighed and turned around, running into Percy. "Dude!" Leo yelled at him.

Percy held his head and blinked. "I am dude," he moaned.

He stumbled and Leo caught him, "Whoooaa, yo. What happened to you? Where's Annabeth?"

The sound of his girlfriend's name must have hit the alarm clock in Percy's brain because he straightened up almost immediately. "Annabeth?" he echoed.

"Yes..." Leo said slowly, like he was talking to a stupid dog, "Annabeth... Your girlfriend..."

Percy lightly hit Leo in the shoulder. "I'm not stupid," he replied. "Where is she?"

Calypso sighed, "Perce, that's what we just asked you."

"So… you don't know where she is?"

Leo face palmed.

"Percy," Calypso sighed.

"My gods!" Annabeth ran up and hugged Percy. "There you are!"

"Annabeth, finally, what happened?" Calypso asked her.

Annabeth kissed Percy and then rolled her eyes, "Long story. I'll explain on the way."

Leo raised an eyebrow, "On the way, where?"

"Home, we gotta hurry up. Piper has the car running."

Jason:

"Good morning New York. It's about 8:50 on this lovely Saturday morning. Birds are chirping, nymphs are flirting, demigods are training, and Jason, naturally, is sleeping."

Without opening his eyes, Jason threw a pillow at the door.

"Whoa!" said the voice at the door. "Not even out of bed yet and you're already fighting? Okay soldier."

Jason sent another pillow flying.

The person must have dodged it, because he just sighed. "You know, if you keep doing that you're gonna run out of pillows."

Jason groaned and sat up, then regretted it immediately after. He held his throbbing head. "Whoa," he groaned. "Rough night, I guess."

Jason recognized Leo's laugh as he joined Jason sitting on the bed. "You could say that," Leo agreed.

"Where's Piper?" he asked.

Leo nodded to the door. "Training," he answered. "Like everyone else."

"Shit." Jason stretched and rubbed his eyes. "8:50 you said?"

Leo sighed and got up, "Probably like 9 now."

"Okay," Jason popped two advils and got up. "Alright I'mma get in the shower, I'll meet you guys at archery, okay?"

"Alright sleeping beauty," and Leo left.

Maybe it was the advil or maybe it was the hot water, but after his shower, Jason was feeling much better. He put on his CHB t-shirt, a new pair of jeans, and some shoes. He fixed his hair in the mirror, grabbed his gladius, and when he decided that he looked presentable enough, he set off into camp.

Leaving his dorm so late into the morning wasn't that big of a deal for Jason. He had no roommate, so there was no one to yell at him. No one who really kept tabs on him and knew that he missed the first hour of camp.

No one except for Piper that is.

"Really?" she asked, throwing her arms while stomping toward her.

"Well aren't you just a happy ball of sunshine," he said, squinting at the sunlight.

She enveloped him in the largest bear hug that Piper could manage. "You're just lucky that I'm happy to see you alive."

"That bad huh?"

Piper just laughed.

"Hey," he asked, "I thought I was supposed to meet you guys at the archery range?"

"You were," she replied, leading him through camp, "but we finished at 9:30 so now everyone's heading down to the lake."

Jason knit his eyebrows, "But don't we have rock climbing and then sword practice?"

Piper laughed, "Jason, it's Saturday." Damn, Jason was really disoriented. He could barely stay on track to what was going on for more than 5 minutes.

That continued throughout the day. Of course, the Stoll brothers didn't make it any easier, following him around to blow an air horn in his ear all day. Percy was getting sick of it too, and during the campfire, he yelled, "SERIOUSLY CONNOR, I'LL SLICE YOU."

"Oh?" Connor laughed.

Travis blew the air horn again in Percy's ear, "Sorry, what was that?"

"I swear-" and Percy was cut off by the singing of campers and the rise of the fire.

Annabeth laughed and kissed Percy's cheek. "No more hard drinks for you."

Percy groaned and nodded, Nico laughed.

Leo:

"So," Leo walked with Nico back to the cabins after the campfire "how was your party experience?"

Looking straight ahead, Nico just shrugged.

Leo nudged him with his shoulder, "Come on."

Nico sighed, "No really. It was just eh."

"You were the only freshman at a senior party, dude!"

"I know, and it was cool when we all walked in and got ambushed," Leo caught Nico smiling a little bit. "It was like we were more than just the new shiny play toy, but like we were superhero's."

"We are!" Leo laughed, "Leo and the team Leo's! I think we should make t-shirts."

Ignoring him, Nico continued, "But I don't know, once we disbanded and the party dragged on, it was just eh.

Leo wanted to continue the conversation, but Nico shrugged and quickened his pace to enter the Hades cabin. If one thing was for sure, it was that Leo would not let Nico slide between the cracks like he always does. This year would be different.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Enjoy! Please review(:**_

Percy:

Geometry was Percy's favorite subject, and it wasn't just because Annabeth was in his class.

Wait, yes it was.

As an aspiring architect, Annabeth had already mastered Calculus, so Geometry was a breeze. Yet she continued to listen to the teacher intently, taking down his every word and creating her own practice problems.

Meanwhile, Percy chewed his pencil and spent half his time watching Annabeth, and the other half watching the clock.

9:07. Second period was gonna be over in 8 minutes.

Percy took his pencil out of his mouth and threw it somewhere in his black backpack, then threw his spiral in it.

"Mr." his teacher let out a loud sigh to show his exasperation, "Jackson."

"Sir," Percy answered respectfully.

"Why is it, that with still 7 minutes left in my class, are you packing up your bag?"

Annabeth laughed into her notebook.

"Something funny, Ms. Chase?"

Annabeth looked like a deer in the headlights. "Uhm," she gulped, "No, sir."

"You know what's really funny?" Mr. Headlinger taunted, "This math problem. Do you happen to know the answer?"

To his surprise, Annabeth answered without even looking at her notes, "Yes, sir. 7 pi over 6."

As if she slapped the smartass smirk right off of him, Mr. Headlinger blinked and looked at the board. "Ye - yes," he stammered, "that's correct."

Annabeth lifted her eyebrows in amusement and rolled her eyes. Mr. Headlinger wrote the homework on the board and dismissed the students. Being already packed up, Percy threw his backpack on his shoulders and told Annabeth that he'd meet her outside. She nodded and finished off her notes.

From the door, Percy watched his girlfriend pack up. One of the guys that was friends with Becca and that group walked up to Annabeth's desk. He said something to her, but Annabeth seemed to interrupt him.

"Leave me alone, I don't want to hear your excuses," she almost yelled at him.

Percy could sense her anger flaring, so he stepped in. "Whoa, what's going on?"

"Percy," Annabeth said while standing up, "Let me deal with it."

"Nah," Percy stared at the kid, "I just wanna know who this guy is."

The kid puffed up a bit, trying to find his bravery, "Andrew."

"Percy let me talk to him," Annabeth tried to join in, but she was ignored.

"Who're you?" Andrew asked, his eyes never wavering from Percy's.

Percy smiled, "Percy Jackson, Annabeth's boyfriend." Andrew was only an inch taller than Percy, but confidence radiated from Percy in every way while Andrew tried his best to stay standing. "And I know you're not looking for a fight," Percy noted, "so just leave my girlfriend alone."

"Unless you wanna go for round 2," Annabeth urged.

Andrew's eyes wavered from Annabeth's to Percy's. "Whatever," he shouldered his backpack, put his head down, and left the classroom.

Before Annabeth could say anything to Percy for interrupting her fight, Mr. Headlinger re-entered the classroom with a handful of some sort of crackers. "Jackson, Chase, it's break time."

"I know sir, we were just leaving," Annabeth said to the teacher. Yet her eyes bored into Percy, letting him know that she wasn't done with him yet.

Piper:

The first day back to school after the party was almost as entertaining as the party itself. Only, Jason wasn't drunk.

When the bell for 6 period rang, letting the students of New York Prep know that school was out, Piper pretty much ran out the door. She hated her English class, and couldn't wait to get out of there. The teacher was horrid, the students were snobby, and reading in English just wasn't her thing. Now Greek, she wasn't too bad at.

As she left her classroom, she began to search for tan skin and blond hair on a tall boy. But when she saw her boyfriend, she laughed.

"Uhm, what?" he asked a random girl to the right of him.

The girl twirled her bottle dark red hair around her finger and gave him a dumb smile, "Don't you remember? We talked at the party! You were so funny!"

Piper walked up and kissed her boyfriend on his cheek, "Hey Superman." She turned to the girls, "Hey!" she said with a sweet smile, "I'm Piper." She gave the girls a small wave.

The girls stared at her. The red haired one lifted an eyebrow, "Uhm, cool," and they walked away.

"Sweet girls," Piper noted.

Jason laughed, enveloped her in a hug, and kissed her softly.

Piper frowned. "I can't make one damn friend with you around."

"Have you made any without me around?" he asked suspiciously.

"No," she answered, "but still."

They walked to the parking lot and sat on the hood of Percy's car. They leaned back and watched the clouds. Sounds of teenagers getting in their cars and driving away filled their ears. Until Leo walked up, of course.

"Damn, I hate high school."

Piper sat up, "And here I thought it was a dream come true."

"Well you my friend," he threw his backpack onto Jason, who groaned on impact, "are wrong." Leo sat on top of Jason to join them. "All day, people were talking about the party and how awesome it was. It was not awesome. And if anyone knows awesome, it's Leo!"

"I'll agree only if you promise to never talk in third person again," Jason groaned from under Leo.

"Leo will not."

Piper shrugged, "I wasn't gonna agree anyway."

A group of whispering girls passed the car, giggling and wavering eyes. PIper smiled and waved, but the girls just rolled their eyes.

Leo was right, high school sucks.

**_A/N: thanks for reading you guys! Don't forget to review guys, i wanna know which couple you guys wanna hear from next, thank you(:_**


	9. Chapter 9

"So this is where the magic happens?" Calypso asked, entering Bunker 9. Because it was dinner time, no one but Leo and Calypso were in there.

Leo laughed and gestured to himself, "The magic happens wherever Leo is, baby!"

But for once, Calypso ignored him. She studied the bunker in amazement. Half finished inventions filled the room, wires lined the ground, screws covered the tables. It was different from anything she'd ever seen. She was so perplexed, she didn't noticed the wide smile plastered on her face until Leo laughed at her.

"I didn't think you'd be that into this," he noted.

"Are you kidding me!" she gestured to all the gadgets around her. "This is amazing!" She twirled around the room, infatuated with her surroundings.

Leo couldn't help but smile as he watched her. She was known as this safe kept girl stuck on an island with nothing to do but tend to her garden, and now here she was, tinkering with wires.

Leo sat down next to her and watched her work. "Whatcha got?"

She shrugged and tossed the wires to the side. "Just wires, not like I could make anything out of them."

Leo frowned and grabbed the wires. "Come on," he urged, "here." He pulled out a screw driver and a little bit of metal from his tool belt, "You can make anything."

Calypso laughed, "No, you can."

Leo shrugged and smiled, "Well, I-"

"Leo! Calypso!" Nyssa entered Bunker 9. "There you guys are. We've been looking for you."

The couple stood up, confused. "We?" Calypso asked.

Nyssa pointed out the door, "Yeah, Annabeth sent me to find you guys."

"Oh shit!" Leo grabbed Calypso's hand and they ran out the door. "We're late!"

"For what?!" Nyssa yelled after them.

But all they could do was wave as they ran through the woods.

Annabeth:

Annabeth sat around the ping pong table in the rec room eating squirtable cheese from her finger. It wasn't nutritious or appetizing, but it got the job done. She was starving. Why did Chiron have to have their meeting during dinner?

"All I'm saying is that it wouldn't kill us to get some actual ping pong paddles in here," Jason proposed.

"And I'm not denying that that would be ridiculously sick," Percy agreed, "because it totally would be..."

Annabeth's eyes wandered to Piper who was amused as ever, nibbling on some crackers. Then to Nico who was smirking to himself and twiddling his thumbs.

"I'm just saying," Percy continued, "that we wouldn't ever have time to play. Whenever we're in here we're usually discussing important tasks-"

"Unlike right now." Chiron entered the room in his wheelchair and everyone stopped talking and chewing immediately. "Can we please begin, sorry I'm late." After taking a look around, Chiron sighed. "And where in the Hades are Leo and Calypso?"

Annabeth shrugged, "Not sure. We sent some of the Hephaestus kids looking for them."

Chiron signed and wheeled closer to the ping pong table. "We better hope they show up soon, we have much to discuss."

Piper swallowed the cracker in her mouth and asked, "Yeah, what do you wanna ask about Chiron?"

"I just wanted to check in to see how this whole High School experiment is working. The deal has always been that Camp Half Blood is a summer camp, unless you would also like to stay here all year round instead of going home and going to school. I feel like it's too risky to have demigods travel back and forth between a nearby high school and our peaceful camp. Yet, if it works, I feel like going to high school during the day, then sleeping and training here at the same time would better keep you all educated and safe. Keep you all as normal as possible.

"So," he continued, "would anyone like to report anything about school and how this change is going?"

"Sucks," Leo answered while walking through the door.

Calypso entered and gave Leo an evil glare. "Sorry we're late," she apologized for them.

"Please, sit," Chiron gestured. "And Leo, what do you mean?"

They took their seats at the other end of the table. "Well," Leo pressed, "high school sucks, the people suck, the classes suck. But I think the experience is good for us, ya know? Like finally, I feel safe going to school. It helps knowing that I have friends like me there, and that when the bell rings, I can go home. My real home."

Nico nodded, "I agree. It's comforting."

"That's nice to hear, of course," Chiron added. "But would you guys like to continue attending New York Prep?"

Before anyone else could answer, Annabeth spoke up. "Yes," they all glared at her.

"Would you suggest it to any of the other year-round campers?"

"I would. A different school, of course. That would attract too many monsters. But I think it's good for us. It's a nice balance."

Chiron pondered this, and nodded.

Percy smiled at Annabeth and held her hand, "She's right."

"What else is new?" Piper laughed.

Nico, who'd been looking down this entire time, got up and suddenly left. Chiron cleared his throat, "Well, it seems like the meeting's over."

_**A/N: so i don't know how I feel about this chapter, so let me know what you guys think! Thanks guys, happy reading(:**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: To answer teamleo4, yes i am. Everything's just how it is in the books!**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_"Come on boss! Just one more,"_ Blackjack begged, pawing his hoof at the ground.

Percy laughed and threw him another sugar cube. "Last one."

Gulping it down in one bit, Blackjack whined, _"Oh please, oh please one more!"_

Percy emptied out hip pockets and shrugged, "That's all I got! But thanks for the fly."

_"Anytime boss!"_ and he flew away.

Percy looked out at the lake, watching the sun rise. He could still feel the wind in his face from when he flew over it on Blackjack. The fly really cleared his mind, leaving him feeling whole. But to finish off his early morning, Percy decided to take a swim.

At the first feel of the cool water on his feet, Percy smiled and dived in. Surrounded by the cool water, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes. The water was murky and peaceful, fish swam and everything was still. Percy could sense every living thing in the lake.

"Percy?"

He could hear someone calling his name from above the water, but he couldn't find it in himself to get out of the water.

"Percy come on," the voice said.

Percy sighed and swam to the edge. He walked out of the water, his clothes dry. Nico sat by the edge of the lake watching the sun rise. "You missed it," Nico told him.

"Missed what?" Percy asked.

Nico pointed to the horizon, "The sun rise."

Percy looked over and saw the sun already risen, greeting the camp. Percy shook his head, "Doesn't matter. I see it all the time."

"Full of early mornings, lately?"

Squinting at the sun, Percy shrugged. "Or endless nights. Didn't sleep last night."

"Yeah me neither. Mrs. Hall assigned us a 5 page essay yesterday, I stayed up doing it."

"When's it due?"

Nico played with the strings on his sweatshirt. "Thursday."

Percy laughed, "Nico it's Tuesday."

"Yeah I know, but it gave me something to do. I wouldn't have slept last night anyway."

It was quiet for a moment. Percy listened to the birds around camp, the roars from the forest, the water moving in the lake. He felt bad for Nico. "You seemed to be doing much better, too. Before we started school."

"Me?" Nico asked.

Percy laughed, "No, that tree."

Nico smiled and shrugged, "Hey, who knows. You talk to a lot of animals."

Percy scrunched his eyebrows and frowned, "Whoa wait, just horses. And sea animals. Some of them. But I-"

Nico laughed, "Breathe, water boy. Besides the point."

The sound of Nico laughing made Percy smile. He'd come so far. Deep in Percy's mind he could still picture Nico's young sparkling eyes begging Percy to bring his sister home safely. Soon after, Percy realized that that spark was hope. Nico's eyes hadn't sparkled in a while. Mythomagic master, the Ghost King, now he seemed like just a kid. But maybe he'd been just a kid the entire time. Ever since the war ended, the second and most recent one that is, Nico had began to fill in his shoes. Moving into the Hades cabin at Camp Half Blood was a big step that Nico finally took. He seemed to be fitting in, too. A little bit of competitiveness came over him during rock climbing, sword fighting, and capture the flag. It was refreshing. He was, on demigod terms, almost normal. Sometimes he even laughed. But now, as the young son of Hades watched the rising sun, he seemed old. Mature. Like he'd gone through so much, which he had. It made Percy's heart sink.

"So how'd you know I was gonna be at the lake?" Percy asked.

Nico shrugged, "I didn't. I just came to see the sun rise."

"It's nice," Percy agreed. Another moment of silence passed before Percy spoke again. "Finish all your homework that's due today."

With his eyes still fixed on the horizon, Nico answered, "Percy, I stayed up all night writing an essay that's due in 2 days. Of course I finished my homework."

"Why?" Percy asked.

Nico raised an eyebrow at Percy. "What do you mean, 'why'?"

"Why do you do your homework? Why do you get up everyday and continue going to this high school if you hate it so much? You don't have to, you can just stay at camp, everyone else does. We're the only demigods who do both. Just focus on training, it's fine."

"I just…" Nico thought for a moment, "I just want to be normal. Not just in what I do, but in who I am. Does that make sense?" He took a deep breath and continued, "I want to be able to say hi to people when I walk by without them doing a double take, I want people to want to be with me because they like me."

"We like you!" Percy told him.

Nico stopped talking and looked down at his hands, "Yeah." He stood up and brushed off his jeans, "I'm gonna take a shower. See ya in a couple hours." And he left.

Percy sighed and hugged his knees, listening to the lake. Nico was never going to fully be himself around Percy, Percy could tell that much. He just couldn't tell why.

_**A/N: soooo what do you guys think? It's the first Nico and Percy moment I've done! Let me know please, it would be super helpful!(:**_


	11. Chapter 11 - Some New Campers

_**A/N: Enjoy!**_

"Leo... Leo Valdez!"

"Holy Hera!" Leo woke with a start in his Chemistry class. There was muffled laughter from students around him.

His teacher, Ms. Crawlin, crossed her arms and shifted her weight, "Leo, I was asking you a question."

Leo yawned and rubbed his eyes, "Shoot." He snapped his fingers into a little gun pointed at her, telling her to ask her question.

"Where's your lab?"

"Lab?" Leo asked, finishing his yawn.

Ms. Crawlin sighed and tightened her crossed arms, "Yes, the displacement lab, I need your write up."

Even surprising himself, Leo knew what lab she was talking about. "Ohhh, that," Leo nodded aggressively, "Yeah I did that."

He didn't move, she didn't move. You could have heard a pin drop. "So…" she urged, "Where is it?"

"I dropped it in lava," Leo answered casually.

"Leo Valdez, this is no time for jokes," Ms. Crawlin said annoyed.

"I'm not joking," Leo told her. "I was gonna miss my ride to school, and I was running with it in my hand by the rock climbing wall. But freakin Clarisse thought I'd be okay to be climbing it at the same time, so naturally when she got near the top, lava came out from it. So like any normal person, I dodged it, accidentally dropping my paper into the falling lava."

More muffled laughter.

"Leo, if this class is a joke to you, than your grade is a joke to me."

A couple kids "ooooo"ed, like she just burned him, but Leo just shrugged. He kept reminding himself that this wasn't the real world. The real world was full of monsters and evil that these kids didn't even know existed. And they probably never will. Leo Valdez, the kid who saves the world multiple time but then gets made fun of when he didn't turn in a lab. Awesome.

Leo sighed and leaned back in his seat and sighed. Why was he even here? He could be at camp, training. Who knows when another war will start. He raised his hand. Ms. Crawlin sighed and pointed to him, "Yes, Leo?"

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

She rolled her eyes, "Sure, be sure to fish your lab out of the lava when you're there."

Leo mumbled something about unimportance and left the classroom. He dragged his feet across the hallway, wandering around. Not having a phone or a watch, Leo had no idea what time is was. What if he just wandered around until the bell rang and then got his backpack during break?

After about 10 minutes, he turned the corner and ran into Percy. "Dude!" Percy yelled. Percy had his backpack over his right shoulder and a note in his other hand. "Where's your stuff? he asked Leo.

Leo raised an eyebrow, "In the classroom?"

"Dude, we're leaving," Percy told him.

"What?"

"Yeah, Chiron or someone called in for us, we're going back to camp."

"Why?" Leo asked.

Percy rolled his eyes, "I don't know, but go get your shit and note, meet us at the car." And he walked toward the front of the school.

When he entered his Chemistry class, the class as quiet, the students writing stuff down. Ms. Crawlin sat at her desk grading papers. Without even looking up, she held out a note. Leo walked up and grabbed, then shuffled in the back to grab his bag.

In the parking lot, everyone was already in the car. Leo squeezed in the back with Calypso and put his arm around her. "Does anyone know why-"

"No," Annabeth interrupted from the front seat, "but whatever the reason, it can't be good."

"Why would he need us in the middle of the day on a Wednesday?" Jason asked.

From next to him, Piper sighed, "I… I know know."

Jason:

Jason wondered what could be so important that Chiron had to take him out of school in the middle of a test. Of course, the camp was more important than his math grade. As the strawberry fields came into view, Jason noticed that no one was picking the fruit, like they usually would be at around noon. Jason's heart began to race, he could sense something was wrong. Tension rose in the car. No one said a word, but everyone was staring at the strawberry fields intently as they parked and got out of the car.

Percy led the group to the Big House, only passing a few campers on their way through. Some were in their cabins peeking out the windows as they passed. An Aphrodite son and Demeter daughter were sword fighting vigorously, which was a rare sight. Two daughter's of Hermes sat on a rock with a wood nymph whispering. When Jason and his friends passed, they looked up, but then directly down and continued talking in muffled voices.

Jason leaned over and whispered to Piper, "What the he-"

"I don't know," Piper answered with worry in her voice.

When they got to the front steps of the big house, Percy stopped. He turned his head and gave his friends the best smile he could conjure, which still seemed fake and more like a grimace. After a deep breath, Percy opened the door. He led them to the rec room and opened the door. At first, Percy was blocking the doorway so Jason couldn't see inside. But when Percy sighed, said "Oh hey?" and sat down, Jason saw Chiron and Dionisis sitting around the table with Reyna, Hazel, Frank, Octavian, Gwen, and Hank.

_**A/N: SOOOO?! whatcha think?!**_


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it took me longer than usual to update. American Horror Story season 2 came out on Netflix so naturally I had to watch the whole thing. **

**Anyway, I wanted to thank you guys for the reviews on the last chapter, I got 7!**

**For this one, ****_I'm not gonna update again until I get at least 7 again, but try for 10_****! Remember, the more reviews I get, the longer the chapters and the faster I update.**

**Happy reading(:**

Percy:

It'd been 2 days since the Romans arrived at camp. Many of the Greek demigods hadn't warmed up to them, which is expected. Although no lives had - luckily - been lost during the almost-war a couple months ago, some demigods still held grudges. Reyna, Coach, and Nico had appeared just in time with the statue.

Finally, high school served a purpose. It was an escape. Sure, Percy loves Hazel and Frank. Gwen was cool, and Percy didn't know Hank that well. Reyna was so cold blooded, it was hard to see her at Camp Half Blood. And Octavian… who invited him?

Deep in thought, Percy didn't hear the first knock at his cabin door.

Or the second.

Or the third.

He began to take notice when Annabeth just sighed and let herself in, walking in to see a shirtless Percy laying on his bed. Without looking up, Percy said, "Knocking would be nice."

Annabeth came closer, "I tried. Multiple times, actually."

Percy sat up to the sound of his girlfriends name. "Oh, Annabeth." He put his hands through his hair, "Sorry."

She kissed him on his cheek. "It's fine," she shrugged.

Percy yawned, "What time is it?"

"6:30 in the morning. How long've you been up?" she asked.

"Not sure, a couple hours though. It's Thursday, right?"

Annabeth laughed and sat closer to Percy, "Yes."

He yawned again and set his head on Annabeth's lap. She played with his hair in silence. They sat like this for a while, listening to the camp slowly wake up and watching the room slowly get brighter.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked from her lap.

"Hm?"

"Has Chiron told you how long they're staying for, yet?"

"The Romans?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah," Percy grumbled.

Annabeth laughed, "Does it bother you that much?"

Percy sat up and frowned, "No, it's not that it bothers me. It's just that…" he paused, thinking, "I thought that we finally could get back to normal, I don't know. Now that the war's over, we could just go back to training and school and camp and I don't know, normal."

"Percy," Annabeth sighed, "what exactly is normal?"

Percy couldn't answer, he didn't have one. But she didn't expect one. They've never lived in "normal." So instead of dealing with the harsh reality of what was their life, they kissed and talked and fell asleep; missing school and training.

Calypso:

"And along with Hoover and Roosevelt, the 3rd progressive president was…?"

Calypso shot her hand up in the air.

Mr. Parson said, "Yes, Calypso?"

She smiled and answered, "Taft."

"Good! And he was best known for…?"

A kid in the back laughed and answered, "Getting stuck in a bathtub?"

Mr. Parson laughed along. "Yes, yes, along with getting stuck in the bathtub, what did he do?"

"He was the trust buster, right?" Calypso answered.

"Exactly," he said, "Now if only he busted bathtubs, that way he wouldn't get stuck in them." The class snickered. Mr. Parson looked up at the clock. "Oh, and that seems to be the end of our time. We have 3 more minutes, pack up your stuff. Don't forget, quiz tomorrow on the progressive era, and I don't wanna hear any 'But Mr. Parson! I didn't know we have a quiz!' Nope, none of that bullshit, just come in and take the damn quiz."

The class laughed and nodded, packing up. Calypso tossed her pencil in her bag and zipped it up. "Why is it," someone walked up behind her and hugged her waist while she was picking up her backpack, "that whenever I see you around school, other guys are always staring at you?"

Calypso turned around to see her boyfriend, frowning and glaring at the guys in her class. She laughed and kissed his cheek. "They're watching in anticipation for my macho boyfriend to come over."

Leo loosened up a bit and looked lovingly into her eyes for a second, before cockily smirking and saying, "Damn straight."

She laughed and playfully shoved his chest. While he overexaggerated his fall backwards, she tossed her backpack at him. "You mind?" she smirked.

Leo frowned, "Yes, actually." But she was already walking out the door. He caught up to her, her backpack in hand, "Hey!"

She gave him her best bitchy puppy dog face, "But I thought you were macho? Team Leo?"

"Well, yeah-"

She kissed his cheek, "You're the best!"

It was lunch, so Calypso lead Leo (and their backpacks) to their usual lunch table. Jason already sat there alone, picking at a sandwich. Leo sat down next to him and nodded his head toward Jason's lunch. "What'd ya get?"

Jason made a face and the sandwich, "Peanut butter and seaweed. How 'bout you?"

Leo opened his lunch and frowned, "I just got an empty, crushed soda can."

"I just got a slice of bread," Calypso stated blatantly. "I hate to admit it, but Chiron isn't the best chief."

Jason and Leo shrugged in agreement.

Leo looked around. "Where's…?"

As if on cue, Piper threw her backpack onto the center of the table.

"Yo!" Jason gasped, "You crushed my peanut butter and seaweed!"

Piper shrugged and sat down next to him, "Not like you were gonna eat it anyways."

"You're right."

"Hey," Nico said sitting by Calypso, "it's better than my empty soda can."

"Whoa, that's what I got!" Leo told him.

Nico just shook his head, "Whoever let Chiron near the kitchen needs to be thrown in Tartarus. Anyone have any other food?"

"I have…" Piper dug through her backpack and pulled out a little baggy, "some nectar?"

Nico rolled his eyes, "Thanks, I'll let ya know if I get stabbed today."

"I might need some of that," Leo complained. "I have Ms. Crawlin next and I may just stab myself."

"Make it quick," someone snickered from behind him. Calypso turned around to see the jocks and sluts. Andrew seemed to be the culprit of the asshole comment.

Piper stood up, "Or we could just fight right here and see who comes out bloody."

All of the jocks backed up laughing, fanning PIper, while the sluts just laughed. "Big words from such a small girl," Andrew commented.

"What are you?" Becca asked, "A freshman?"

"Sophomore," Piper said through her teeth.

Jess laughed, "Yeah, not worth it."

"Oh I'll-"

"Pipes, she's not worth it," Jason reminded her, standing up and touching her shoulder.

"And the nobel boyfriend comes to the rescue!" Brandon laughed, "Won't let her fight your battles?"

"Weird," Andrew added, "because she seems so capable."

Jason pulled PIper back to her seat, "Ignore them."

"What?" Andrew taughted, "Not in the fighting mood now that queen and king aren't here?"

"Yeah, where are they anyway?" Becca laughed, "Still recovering from the party? Pussies."

"If anyone should still be recovering it should be you," Leo stood up to face Andrew, "heard Annabeth got you good, asshole."

Calypso could have sworn she saw Brandon smile a little bit at that comment, but then he swallowed back his expression and hardened his face to back up his friends.

"Come on guys," Andrew said to his friends turning around. "They're nothing, not worth our time." With slight hesitation they listened and followed him through out of the lunch area and into the quad.

For the rest of the school day, Calypso wondered why Percy and Annabeth didn't go to school. She couldn't wait to go back to camp and find out. But then again, the Romans were there. Maybe she could just sleep in the car.

**A/N: Whoa whoa, so we got some Percabeth, some Caleo, and some everyone sitting together! Also yay, looky looky who's fitting it a little bit more, NICO. Lemme know what you think!**

** So I know I didn't have much about the romans in this chapter, but they're in it in the next one! So get excited, it's gonna be cool!**

**Once again, I won't be updating until I get 7 reviews, but lets go for 10+.**

**Thank you so much!(:**


	13. Chapter 13 - Cleaning the Stables

_**A/N: wow guys, we got 10 reviews! Thank you so much, and to "random person with no name", I hope all your questions are answered in this chapter!**_

_**let's try to get 10 more for this chapter. I won't post until I get 8, but let's try for 12+?**_

_**Thank you all so much, happy reading.**_

Nico:

"Shit!" Nico cussed, walking out of the bathroom. He was only wearing dark jeans, no shirt.

From her bed, Hazel covered her eyes before she even saw him, "What?!"

He let his breath out and shook his head, "Nothing, you just scared me. I keep forgetting I have a roommate."

"Oh," Hazel moved her hands and peeked at him, then covered her face right back up with one hand and fanned herself with the other. "Nico!"

"What?" Nico asked, jumping on his bed.

"Put a shirt on!"

Nico laughed and threw on the nearest shirt, "Prude."

Hazel peeked at him through her fingers and sighed when she saw him fully clothed. "You seem to be… better."

"Of course, I put a shirt on."

She laughed, "No, I mean in general."

He gave her a confused glare.

"I mean," she fumbled for the right words, "more comfortable. When the war ended and you chose to live here, I'll be honest, I was worried about you. You seemed so… angry." She looked at him to see his reaction to her words, but his face was blank, listening intently. "But now," she continued, "you seem happy. Well, happier. You fit in really well too, I can tell. Everyone seems to like you here. Why didn't you just stay here before? Instead of traveling from camp to camp?"

Nico slightly winced. "It's just been…" Cupid, love, Percy, "complicated."

He was lucky that his sister could take a hint. She just nodded and said, "Well at least you're here now."

Looking for a way to get out of this conversation, Nico looked at the time. "Oh, it's time to go help clean up the stables. You ready?" he asked, getting out of bed.

"Yeah, yeah," she answered, following him out of the Hades cabin.

As they were walking toward the stables, she asked, "So who are we scheduled to be working with?"

"Poseidon and Chiron," Nico answered.

"Chiron, Chiron? Or the Chiron cabin?" she asked.

The Chiron cabin was one that was added for visitors who didn't have godly parents. Usually it was just Calypso and others when they came to visit, but right now, Reyna was there too. Reyna's mom was Bellona, a goddess that's strictly Roman. At camp half blood, they didn't have a cabin for her. So Calypso and Reyna were roommates, which is about as interesting as you'd expect.

"The Chiron cabin," Nico answered.

Hazel nodded and followed Nico inside. From the looks of her face, Hazel realized why cleaning the stables was a 4 cabin job. First off, the 3 cabins are really small. Poseidon only had 1, Chiron 2, and Hades 2. Secondly, they're job wasn't only to clean the stables but to tend to the horses.

The only person in the stables when Nico and Hazel walked in was Percy, who was having a full conversation with a couple of the horses. He looked puzzled when telling a large brown horse, "Yeah, I see where you're coming from."

A moment of silence when Percy was, Nico suspected, listening to the horses, "I'll mention it."

"Mention what?" Nico asked, grabbing a brush off of the shelf.

Percy turned around, startled. "Oh, hey guys," he turned his attention back to the horses, petting the brown one. "They were just saying how they'd rather get fed once a day with a lot of food rather than small meals throughout the day, that way they can eat whenever they want."

Nico nodded, pretending to be interested, "Hm, cool. Where were you today? You missed school."

Hazel knit her eyebrows, "Wait, you missed training too."

Nico and Hazel looked at each other, confused. Then at Percy who just sighed and kept brushing the horses, "I just wasn't feeling it."

"It, as in school?" Nico asked.

"Yeah."

"Where was Annabeth?"

"With me," Percy stated blatantly. Hazel widened her eyes and was about to speak when Percy cut her off, "Just sleeping and laying, nothing else. No need to say anything to Mr. D or Chiron."

"What about Chiron?" Calypso entered the stables followed by Reyna.

"Sorry we're late," Reyna said. "Princess over there couldn't leave without doing her hair."

Calypso put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. "Stables! We're cleaning stables! I had to get my hair out of my face!"

"Yeah so put it up with a hair tie, why did you need to braid it!" Reyna retorted.

"Because I… UGH!" Calypso angrily grabbed a broom and began sweeping the loose hay in the stable.

"Exactly," Reyna mumbled to where only Nico could hear it.

Nico turned and laughed to himself so no one could see. After going back and forth between the two camps, it was interesting to see the demigods clash. The hard, strictness of Camp Jupiter mixed with the happy-go-lucky ways of Camp Half Blood? Priceless.

Everyone in the stables was either sweeping the floor or brushing horses. There was a silence that floated above all of them like dark winter clouds. A year ago, Nico wouldn't have noticed. But now, it bit at his heels, begging Nico to help out.

"Sooo…" Nico huffed. "How was everyone's day?" Nico's eyes floated over to Percy, and then quickly diverted. But it wasn't necessary, because Percy's back was facing Nico. He seemed to either be deep in thought or listening to the horses complain. Both options seemed typical.

For a moment, no one answered Nico. But Hazel, who must have felt the awkwardness too, answered even though Nico had asked her earlier. "It was cool! I like training with you all here. Everyone's so friendly."

"Almost everyone," Reyna mumbled.

Calypso dropped her broom and threw her hands up, "Let it go! I didn't mean for the lava to drop on you!"

Reyna's nostrils flared as she faced Calypso, "You ruined my best climbing shoes!"

The fight seemed to wake Percy up from his trance. He stepped between the girls out and put his hands up, "Whoa, guys. What's the problem?"

Reyna took a strong step back and faced Percy, "I can't continue to share a room with a supporter of the titans."

It was quiet for a moment, everyone in shock of Reyna's comment. That was a line that no one had crossed with Calypso. Although she supported the titans in the first war, it was because it was her family. What else was she supposed to do? Plus, she had already been punished enough. Calypso was a great person, and with a little help from her friends and the training at camp half blood, a great fighter. She was fully accepted as just another demigod, her past forgiven and forgotten. But Reyna dug it up.

Once the realization hit of what Reyna said, Calypso stepped up and punched Reyna right in the cheek. She flipped her braid over her shoulder and walked out of the stables. Hazel ran over to Reyna to see the damage, but Reyna shoved Hazel to the side and mumbled, "I'm fine. She hits like a greek anyway," and stormed out, Hazel following.

Nico stood there, in awe. Percy was the first to move or speak. "Let's just finish," he sighed and walked over to the horses.

Nico grabbed a broom and continued sweeping. "So what do we do?" he asked.

"About what?" Percy asked, continuing to brush the horses.

"Reyna and all them," he stated very matter-of-fact.

"Hazel and Frank seem to be doing just fine, and Reyna and Hank seem to be slowly catching on," Percy answered.

"I'm not talking about Hazel and Frank, they're fine. Hank's doing well too. He's getting along well with his siblings. Piper says that he hates Drew too, so I guess that's a good sign."

Percy let out a light laugh, "As liking her would be the first sign of insanity."

"Very true," Nico agreed. "Hank isn't as…" Nico struggled for the right word, "fru-fru as the rest of his siblings, he's more hard headed, a fighter. Like Piper."

Percy shrugged, "He's Roman."

"Yeah, Octavian won't let any of us forget that." Nico had finished sweeping and was now helping Percy with the horses. Honestly, they could leave. The stables were clean. But Nico was really enjoying their talk and didn't want to tell Percy they could be done, in fear of Percy actually leaving.

"What do you mean?" Percy asked.

Nico raised an eyebrow at Percy, "You haven't seen him around camp?"

Percy shook his head, "Haven't seen anyone, really."

"Have you been skipping training?" Nico asked.

"You were saying, about Octavian." Percy changed the subject.

Nico rolled his eyes and continued anyway, he wouldn't want to fight with Percy. "Yeah, anyway. He just walks around like he's better than everyone."

"Not surprising," Percy mumbled.

"He refuses to participate in any activities, except dinner, but then he just goes back to his cabin instead of the bone fire."

"Lame," Percy said.

Nico hesitated, but answered anyway. "Lame? That's all you say?"

Percy shrugged, "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know, an idea to get them to participate more, enjoy camp more. Come on, you're like Mr. Camp Half Blood. If anyone can force people to have fun here, it's you."

Percy just shrugged again. "It's not like I invited all of them."

"Yeah, Hazel did. When you told her her and Frank could come visit, she wasn't allowed to go. So she pushed and pushed the idea until they finally let them come. But the only way was to have Reyna and Octavian come."

Percy lifted an eyebrow, "and Hank?"

Nico knit his eyebrows, "Yeah I'm not too sure."

"Well they can do what they want, I don't wanna put all my effort into making them fit in."

"I understand that, but I'm just asking for a little bit of effort."

Percy sighed, "Okay. How about a game of capture the flag?"

Nico thought for a moment, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Percy shrugged, "You said you wanted them to have the full CHB experience. Well, what better way than our camp tradition?"

"Alright."

Percy set the brush back and looked around the stables. "Looks like we're done."

Nico sighed and put his brush back. They walked out of the stables and began walking their separate ways to their cabins.

"Oh, Nico?" Percy called to him.

Nico turned around, "Yeah?"

"You had an essay due today, right?"

"Yeah?" Nico answered.

"You turn it in?"

"Yeah."

Percy nodded, "Good kid," and continued walking toward his cabin.

_**A/N: So whatcha think? Reyna and Calypso don't like each other, uh oh. Nico and Percy moments yay! and Hazel is just such a sweety.**_

_**So just a reminder, I'm not gonna post again until I get 8+ reviews, but let's shoot for 12! Thank you!**_


	14. Chapter 14 - Capture the Flag

_**A/N: whoa guys we got 10 reviews! thank you all so much, I read every single one. They make my day!**_

_**okay so this time I won't update until I get 10, but let's shoot for 12? YAY.**_

_**Soo, this chapter is all about the capture the flag and the romans, I'm not too sure how I feel about it, but let me know what you all think.**_

_**happy reading(:**_

By the time Saturday morning rolled around and it was time for capture the flag, Leo had considered the following options:

Kill Reyna.

Kill Reyna.

Run away to an inhabited island with Calypso

Kill Reyna.

Since killing Reyna was "illegal" and "unsportsmanlike," Leo had considered option number 3. Then he soon remembered that Calypso was stuck on an island for freaking forever, so he assumed that that option was also out of the question. He'd rather fight Queen Dirt Face again then put Calypso through that kind of torment.

Killing Reyna was beginning to sound better and better.

But as annoyed with Reyna as Leo was, a new feeling of "gods dammit" took over when the teams for capture the flag were announced.

The only people on his team besides his siblings, were Jason, Clarisse, and Frank. And they were extremely strong demigods, Leo admitted, but they were no Percy. Plus, Percy had Annabeth, Nico, Reyna, Piper, and Calypso.

On one hand, Leo wanted to be on the same team as Calypso, but on the other, he wanted to be on different teams than Reyna so he could kill her.

Clarisse stood in the center of the group of demigods and stared at her team. After a couple seconds she spoke with a grin, "I like how we have none of the Romans. That way we can show them how us Greeks play hard ball."

Frank frowned. Octavian began to speak, "Excus-"

Clarisse cut his off by putting her hand up, "You don't count, teddy bear boy. We already have an oracle, okay." She turned to Frank, "And Frank, you don't count either. You're already one of us." Frank grinned.

Nyssa cleared her throat, "Uhm, Clarisse, isn't the point of the game today to welcome the Romans and make them feel comfortable here?"

Clarisse lifted an eyebrow in confusion, "Yeah, and?"

Nyssa looked at her for a moment before coming to the obvious realization that if anyone was going to be nice to Octavian (which wasn't gonna be many), it wasn't going to be Clarisse.

Leo zoned out for most of Clarisse's speech until his name came up, "Leo, and Jason."

Leo shook his head, "Sorry, what Clarisse?"

If looks could kill. "You're on offense with Jason, me, Brent, Michael, Janice, and Coral."

After Clarisse was done talking and the group disbanded, the game was about to start. Leo went up to Frank who looked like he was about to shit himself. "What're you so freaked out about, animal boy?"

Frank conjured up the best casual shrug he could manage. "I just don't know many people here and I've never played this game and-"

"Dude," Leo cut him off, "you're the praetor of New Rome. Son of War. Defeated so many monsters just in the past year. And you're scared of a little game of capture the flag?"

Before Frank could answer (although Leo's little pump up speech did seem to ease him) Nyssa walked up and patted Franks' shoulder. "You ready? We gotta get in place. Where's Octavian…"

"Where're you guys stationed?" Jason asked Nyssa, walking up.

Nyssa smiled, "Defense. I assume they're sending Percy after us, so I'm ready."

Clarisse came up to them, "Guys, get in position!"

5 minutes later, Leo found himself standing in line with Jason, Clarisse, and the Dionysis kids. All armored up with weapons in hand, ready to attack.

Annabeth:

"You ready?" Percy asked her after he kissed her cheek.

Annabeth nodded casually. Percy faced their team and yelled, "Hey, listen up! Hermes! Chiron! Hades! Aphrodite! Athena! Hecate!" Percy yelled out the cabin names as they circled around him and Annabeth.

Annabeth stood up a little straighter and spoke in a loud, clear voice, "As you guys know, it's us vs. everyone else. So we need to come up with a pl-"

"Come on Annabeth," yelled one of Hermes kids, "We have a stacked team. We have you and Percy on offense with Piper and the Stoll's on defense. We're good to go."

Annabeth shook her head, "Don't underestimate Clarisse, Leo, and Jason. Especially Frank."

"Yeah," said one of the Aphrodite kids, "I head he's praetor."

"What's that?" asked one of Annabeth's sister's.

The Aphrodite kid answered, "It means he's like the Percy of their camp, leader dude."

Percy sighed, "Guys, he's much more than 'leader dude,' he's an extremely powerful demigod, don't overlook him." Percy smiled to himself while continuing, "and if you see any animals that don't belong in the forest near our flag, keep them away."

Annabeth laughed while everyone looked confused except for Reyna, Piper, Hazel, Nico, and Calypso, who all looked just as amused as Annabeth felt.

Percy nodded at Annabeth to continue with the plan. She cleared her throat and began. "And for your information, Piper and the Stoll's aren't on defense."

The Stoll brother stopped messing with the grass and looked up. "Wait, really?" Connor asked.

Annabeth nodded, "Yes, you two and Piper are with Percy and I. We're attacking."

Travis high fived his brother and then fist bumped Piper.

"Who's defending the flag?" Nico asked from the back of the crowd.

"That would be you," Annabeth answered, "You, Hazel, Reyna, and…" Annabeth's eyes scanned her teammates. "Okay, let's have the boys of Athena with them too.

"The rest of you," she continued, "I want in the field. Lead groups of Clarisse's team away from our flag, distract them in any way you can."

"What about me?" a hand raised from the back. The group parted a little bit so Annabeth could see Hanks shaggy brown hair. Shit, Annabeth thought. Forgot one.

She thought for a moment before replying, "Actually, Reyna. You're attacking with us. Hank, defend the flag with the rest."

Reyna and Hank both nodded.

"Well," Annabeth finished up, "good luck everyone, this'll be a good game, I can feel it. Oh, and Reyna, Hank, Hazel," she flashed them a smile, "Welcome to Camp Half Blood, have fun!"

Everyone clapped weakly, finished armoring up, and got into place.

Leo:

They saw it.

Leo, Coral, Michael, and Clarisse crouched down behind a large rock, watching Annabeth's defense surround their flag. "Typical," Coral mumbled.

"What?" Leo asked.

She nodded toward the flag, "This was probably Percy's idea. They put the flag on Zeus's fist."

"Yeah, so?" Leo pressed.

Coral let out a small chuckle, "Percy and Thalia put the flag there like 4 years ago."

"Sooo, how'd we get it last time?"

Coral shrugged, "I wouldn't know. It was hunters vs. campers back then, Zoe Nightshade got it. I was on offense for the campers."

Leo turned to Clarisse, "What's the plan, then?"

Ignoring him, Clarisse leaned over, peering to the left of the rock over at Jason who hid behind a tree. They seemed to be exchanging a plan of attack, as far as Leo could tell. But Leo couldn't make out what they were saying.

He peeked his head over the rock and say Nico talking with Hank. One of the Apollo campers on Leo's team lead a group of his siblings in toward the flag. Hank threw his spear at one of them, pinning him to a tree.

"They're here!" Hazel shouted, letting the members of her team know they were under attack. Leo watched as Nico turned around and fought Lena, daughter of Iris.

Leo's team was doing great. There was enough of them attacking to where no one was watching the flag. Leo elbowed Clarisse to get her attention.

Without even looking at him, Clarisse whispered, "I know. Michael, Coral. Ready?" They both nodded. "Okay, Coral, come with me. Jason, Brent, and Janice are gonna be the second line. We're gonna run in toward the flag, making it seem like we're the final blow. When everyone's good and distracted, Michael and Leo, you guys climb the back of the poop pile-"

"You mean Zeus's fist?" Coral interrupted.

"Whatever," Clarisse continued, "Get the flag and retreat to the center line so we win."

Leo smiled, "Let's do it."

Percy:

"Oh, come on," Percy taunted, "Gotta admit, it was awesome!"

Instead of answering, Frank sighed and turned away.

Percy laughed and threw a pebble at him. "Oh, lighten up. It was a good game."

Hazel leaned over and kissed her boyfriends cheek, "You have to admit, it was fun."

"Yeah, and unfair," Frank grumbled.

"So you tripped while chasing Percy when he had the flag, okay whatever," Nyssa told him while dipping her feet in the lake, "I still think it was one of the most interesting games of capture the flag we've had in a while."

Nico laughed and said, "Yeah, if you find it interesting when elf-looking mexican boys fall off a pile of rocks, then yeah."

Leo splashed Nico and frowned, "Not funny, I scrapped my knee."

Everyone was laughing and and playing along side the lake, but Percy was too distracted. He frowned. Why's he so unattached? He's at camp with all of his friends. It's the middle of November, one of Percy's favorite times of year. Everyone was together. Camp was peaceful. Finally, there were no ways looming over their heads.

And, quite honestly, school wasn't half bad either.

Other than the annoying morals, that is.

So what was bothering him? Why couldn't he enjoy himself?

'Seaweed brain?" Annabeth brought him back to reality by nudging his shoulder.

"Yeah, what?" Percy asked.

"We were gonna take a swim, you coming in?"

Percy smiled, a swim was exactly what he needed. And Annabeth totally knew that, that's why she suggested it. He kissed her passionately, grabbing her hair and enveloping her in his arms. When he pulled back, he gave her a quick smirk. "Last one in has to steal Mr. D's diet cokes," and he jumped in.

**_A/N: alrighty guys, just a reminder, I'm not posting again until I get at least 10 reviews, so let me know what you guys thought about this chapter. Thanks for reading(:_**


	15. Chapter 15 - Discussions

**A/N: so this chapter is short and i don't really like it, but next chapter will be better! It'll have a flashback to the fight and... (drumroll please) RACHEL! Yay, I love her.**

**now to answer some of the reviews:**

**to _Nox Tenebrarum_: I hope this chapter answers some of your questions(:**

**to ****_Lilycooper23_****: I was gonna have the hunters come in, but i went with the roman demigods instead. I might do another story with them in a month or so though!**

**to ****_Black rabbit_****: aww thank you! I like to think that Nico has begun to accept himself. Before all the creepy darkness, he was just a kid. I kinda wanna bring some of that back.**

Nico (Monday morning, following the weekend of capture the flag):

School, like always, sucked.

"Hey, death," Brandon taunted.

Before turning around, Nico smirked at the new nickname the Jock Straps (see, Nico can come up with creative nicknames too) were calling him. They didn't know how right they were. He turned around to face them. "You called?" Nico answered, slightly amused.

Andrew frowned at Nico's smirk. He walked up to Nico in full fury, hoping to knock the smile right off of him. Nico's smile just grew. These guys obviously haven't tried to mess with Nico yet. "Yeah, death," Andrew laughed, as if repeating the nickname would make it funny. "So I see king and queen are another no-show again today. Did they quit?" His stupid friends laughed along like he just told the funniest joke they've ever heard.

"You know, Andrew," Percy walked up to them, an amused look on his face, "you're creativity never ceases to amaze me. You have such a way with words."

At his first view of Percy, Andrew looked like he was going to shit himself. Then he swallowed his nerves and puffed his chest. "You hitting on me now?"

Brandon and Jake must have thought that Percy was going to be really offended when Andrew questioned Percy's sexuality, because they took a step back and began "OOOhh"ing. But Percy just laughed and winked at Andrew, "Oh, you'd know if I was hitting on you."

Nico covered his mouth to hide his laughter. He wanted to step in and help Percy, but it seemed like he was doing just fine on his own.

Then in a split second, Percy hardened his face and sized up Andrew, "Hit on you, no. Hit you? Possibly. Don't tempt me." Percy turned and walked away. "Come on, Nico."

"Hey!" Jake called, "We'll see how tough you are during lunch behind the gym!"

Ignoring them, Percy kept on walking.

Reyna (around 1 o'clock that day at camp):

"You're obviously out of practice," Reyna shouted to Octavian. He grumbled something about stupid weapons and threw his sword to the ground.

Reyna sighed and went to go pick it up. "You know, it's really not that bad."

He looked at her with pure disgust, "This camp?! Yes! Yes it is! What I don't understand," he continued, sitting down in the middle of the arena, "is why we had to pack up and spend a month here too. We should have just sent Frank and Hazel."

Reyna put her hands on her hips. "Because, it was the wish of the praetor of New Rome for us to come here and experience the happenings at this camp for ourselves."

"The other praetor! Do you forget that you have just enough, if not more, authority than he?"

"I do know, and I wanted to come as well."

"Why!" Octavian complained loudly.

"Because!" Reyna threw her hands in the air in exasperation. "Maybe if we just put ourselves in the shoes of a Greek demigod, we would be able to keep the peace."

"But-"

"You especially," she raised her voice, "because you have caused the most tension between our two camps. If anyone needs to gain respect for them, it's you. And Hank," by now, Reyna was pretty much just reassuring herself. She still wasn't quite sure if she made the right move, sending all them all here for a month, "he represents the other demigods of New Rome. If anyone can convince them to gain respect for the Greeks, it's him.

"We have a chance here," she continued, "to make a bond with this camp that will last for decades. No more wars, for a while at least. No more lives lost, for the time being. The great war just ended, there is no better of a time for peace."

Octavian sat, lost for words.

"Enjoy it, dammit," Reyna mumbled, tossing her spear at Octavians feet.

She left him in the arena mumbling about the inevitability of war. She tried her best to ignore him and headed toward the archery range. She wanted to clear her mind and do some shooting.

The archery range was nearly empty, only one boy there. He was at the target dummy, taking his arrows out of the head. Reyna raised her bow and shot the dummy in the nose, only a few inches from the boys head. He turned around, bow at the ready, like he was under attack. When he saw who it was, he lowered it. "Dammit Reyna," Percy breathed, "you scared the shit out of me."

"Aren't you supposed to be at school?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He shrugged, "I was."

She stood her ground, waiting for him to continue.

"I got suspended," Percy stated blatantly. He walked over to her and slung his bow over his shoulder.

Reyna sighed. "What'd you do?"

He shrugged, "Just a little misunderstanding, is all."

She rolled her eyes, "I doubt that."

"Morals," Percy sighed, shooting the dummy in the eye, "Whatcha gonna do."

Reyna noticed a small trail of dried blood coming from his nose. Reyna nodded toward it. "Is that how you got that?"

Percy realized what she was gesturing towards. He wiped the blood away with the back of his hand and smirked at Reyna, "I had to let him get one punch in, didn't I?"

Reyna smiled and shook her head disapprovingly.

He shrugged and shot the dummy in the chest, "Besides, my nose is nothing. You shoulda seen the other guy."

Annabeth (same day, after school):

When she got back to camp, Annabeth decided, she was going to kill her boyfriend. She thought about it during her last two classes of the day, right after the fight. Yeah, it was entertaining seeing him beat the shit out of Andrew. Funny too, that jackass football head thought he stood a chance.

Not only did Percy let Andrew get a punch in (actually it was a good one, he broke Percy's nose), but because of that, she had to give Percy her last ambrosia square. Even worse, he got suspended for a week.

So when the Percy pulled up in the camp van to pick up everyone from school, Annabeth smiled. He was so much like his mother.

"So, how was everyone's day?" he asked, motherly.

Leo's face brightened up, "I got an A on my chemistry test!"

"Really?" Percy sounded surprised.

"No, but I saw you kick someone's ass during lunch, so that's gotta count for something."

Everyone laughed except for Percy. "Okay," he urged, "but what'd you get on your chemistry test."

Leo rolled his eyes and turned to Annabeth, "Oh my gods, you're right. His head is full of kept."

She shrugged, "Told you."

**A/N: I'll be updating tomorrow night or the next! It'll have a flashback to the fight and Rachel!**

**Once again, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!**


	16. Chapter 16 - Modesty and Honesty

_**A/N: okay so here's an update THE NEXT DAY like I promised! and to answer some of the reviews:**_

_**Princess Of Flames: I'm sorry but I'm not:/ I'm gonna try and stay in character, and personally I don't think Nico and Reyna would be a good couple. plus, Nico's gay... so yeah. ahha**_

_**Guest: haha yes you can put as many reviews as you want.**_

_**Josh: thanks I'm trying to keep Leo light and funny, like he usually is. And my favorite color is purple(:**_

_**And to everyone else, thank you for reading and favoriting and following and reviewing and breathing and being nerdy like me.**_

_**Happy reading!**_

Percy (the next day, Tuesday, around noon):

"So…" Rachel sighed, trying to wrap her head around the subject, "Explain to me how you got suspended, but not pretty boy."

Percy slightly cocked his head in confusion, "Who ever said he was pretty?"

"Didn't you say he plays football?" she asked, spinning in her chair by her easl.

"Yeah…?"

"So he's pretty boy."

Percy rolled his eyes. If he learned anything in the past couple years (besides don't leave Annabeth for a year, you'll get judo flipped), it was that Rachel just wasn't worth fighting with. She was always right. Even when she was obviously wrong, she was right.

Right now, her red hair was piled on top of her head in what seemed like a bun. She wore, of course, no makeup, a huge CHB shirt, and a pair of light, ripped, flare jeans.

At her school, she had Thanksgiving to New Years off, so of course she came back to camp. Especially since Percy and his friends were now living here year round.

Percy smiled, "But I'm prettier."

She rolled her eyes, "Don't flatter yourself, horse whisperer. I'm still hotter than you." She bit on the end of a skinny paintbrush and turned around to face her painting. It was of the strawberry fields at day break. "Plus, that's not my area of expertise. Ask Annie."

Percy scrunched up his nose, "Hey, she hates that name."

Rachel shrugged, "She never really had good taste."

Percy laughed and sat down on one of the stools in Rachel's art room. Or art cave. Whichever.

"Tell me about the fight," Rachel urged.

"What do you wanna know?"

"Who threw the first punch?"

Percy laughed, "Not me, obviously. My dad and Chiron would kill me if I threw the first punch at a mortal. Andrew was pissing me off all day."

Rachel raised an eyebrow, "Is this the same guy that tried to get with Annabeth at the party?"

He cringed at the thought of Andrew dancing with his girlfriend, "Yeah, that douchedick. Anyway, he was messing with Nico this yesterday morning too, and he told me he wanted to fight me at lunch behind the gym."

Rachel turned around to face him, angrily, "You went?!"

"Of course not! I went to the lunch tables to eat. But he walked up and tried to mess with us, his fellow douchedicks egging him on."

_Flashback_

_Percy was really getting sick of Chiron's famous ketchup sandwiches. They sucked. The guy could train a mean demigod, but when it came to the culinary arts? Hell no. "Want it?" he asked Jason._

_Jason made a face, not even having to answer._

_Percy shrugged and tossed it in the trash._

_"Hey king!" shouted someone from behind. Percy turned around to see Andrew leading Jake and Brandon over to Percy's table. Becca and Jess lingered behind, laughing._

_Percy stood up, "You know if you're gonna try to come with insulting nicknames, making them insulting."_

_Andrew frowned, but Percy continued, "Because honestly, calling me 'king' is just speaking the truth." Percy gestured to the rest of the lunch room, who were beginning to notice the scene and pay attention, "because I own this school."_

_Percy realized it was an over exaggeration. Percy did not, in fact, own the school. Actually, it wouldn't be surprising if only 10 other people knew who he was. But Andrew was being so rude, Percy felt like he was invincible._

_Leo stood up from his seat and fist pumped the air. Everyone stared. When no one responded to his fist pump, he slowly sat back down._

_Andrew took a step toward Percy, "You have no one." He nodded toward the table of Percy's friends, "Them, that's it. And who are they, really? No one."_

_Percy blood boiled. Make fun of Percy all you want, but make fun of his friends? Nope. He took a step toward Andrew, eyes full of rage. "They're 10 times your gang of jackasses."_

_For what seemed like the first time in his life, Andrew didn't back down. He swung and hit Percy's nose, catching him off guard. Annabeth stood up, but Percy wiped the blood off of his lip to keep it from dripping and raised a finger in the air. "No," he whispered, "he's mine."_

_Flashback over_

"... and?!" Rachel pressed.

Percy laughed and shook his head. "Does it look like I have any other scratches on me?"

Calypso (2 days later, Thursday, 3:45pm, after school):

Calypso sat on her bunk listening for a knock at her cabin door which was sure to be her boyfriend. After school, they did a short sword fighting lesson and then Calypso hit the showers. So far, it was a great day. Ever since Percy beat the shit out of Andrew, the Jock Straps had kind of kept their distance. School was painless enough, and from the time she got to camp after school until now, she hadn't seen Reyna.

Yup, pretty good day.

But the thought of Reyna brought on the thought of her comment from last week. "I can't continue to share a room with a supporter of the titans." Those words hit hard. For a week now, those words had been on repeat in Calypso's head. That night, she cried. Finally, her past seemed to be behind her. She could be, finally, a normal girl. School, training, sword fighting, archery, nymphs, rock climbing, monsters. Normal teenage girl stuff. She had great friends, a wonderful (dorky) boyfriend, and was finally accepted.

And Reyna had torn it all down with one sentence. It just wasn't fair.

Calypso's little pity party was ruined by a knock at the door. She shot out of bed and ran to the door, preparing to tackle her boyfriend in a hug. But instead, a girl with dark black hair and brown eyes stood at the door. She walked into her cabin, rolling her eyes at Calypso. "Oh," Calypso breathed.

"Oh," Reyna repeated. "Don't worry," she scuffed. "I'm just here to take a shower. If that's okay with you," she added, sarcastically.

"I don't care what you do," Calypso commented politely.

"Whatever," Reyna slammed the door to the bathroom.

Calypso slugged back to her bed, shoving her head into her pillow, letting a tear roll down her cheek. She just wanted the pain and grief to end. She was sick of fighting, she just wanted to get along with people now.

Piper (same day, Thursday night):

As she was sitting by the lake by herself, wrapped in blankets, Piper realized that she hadn't used her charmspeak in a while. Intentionally, that is.

Actually she hadn't seen real combat in a while either. If you don't count training. Which she didn't. As she thought of all the other demigods at camp, she realized that this was their norm. Having dinner with your siblings every night, singing songs by the campfire, peacefully falling asleep in your bed every night with the promise of a fun day of training in the morning.

But for Piper, camp was her Elysium.

Her reality was taking turns being on watch while your friends slept at your feet in some abandoned warehouse, digging for quarters to spare a meal on the side of the road, hiding from monsters in a random alley. Piper basically lived her life on a quest.

The other demigods just didn't fully understand. Only some did. One of which, at this time, walked up behind her and sat down next to her, watching the water like she was. "Pretty, huh?"

Piper shrugged, "I've seen better."

"And worse," the demigod to her side added.

"True."

"Just wait until you seen it from my point of view," he sighed.

Piper laughed, "Well of course it's nice when you can breathe and not get wet."

Percy shrugged, "It's not half bad."

There was a comfortable silence before Piper broke it, "So how's not going to school and barely training?"

"Hey, I've been training," Percy defended himself.

Piper lifted an eyebrow.

"I've been training the younger demigods," he stated proudly. "And let me tell ya, they need all the training they can get."

"That bad?"

"Eh, I can't complain. I was probably much worse."

Piper dipped her foot into the water. It was freezing, but comforting. "Didn't you defeat the minotaur before you even crossed into camp borders?"

"Yeah, and almost got my best friend and mom killed in the process…"

She laughed and shook her head,"You're too modest, Percy. You know that?"

He didn't answer. He probably didn't know how too.

"I feel bad," Percy broke the silence.

"Don't," Piper urged, "it's not like you killed him. He only had cuts and bruises. And a broken nose. And wrist, I think."

Percy laughed, "No, I don't feel bad about that. Andrew had it coming."

"So…?"

"I feel bad that I don't want to go back to school."

Piper raised an eyebrow, "Why not?"

He shrugged, "For the obvious reasons. It sucks. And honestly, I just want to try to get back to normal. Training, camp, friends. I don't need this school bullshit."

Piper hugged her blankets tighter as wind chill began to set in. "Don't forget, this is an experiment. Chiron wants to see if going to camp and school at the same time is even possible, we're helping out."

Percy watched the water while answering, "And I support that, and I think it will help demigods in the future. Help them anchor to their normal. But for me, right now, I just want camp. Camp is my normal."

Piper understood what he was saying. And honestly, she agreed.

Percy shook his head, "I'm being selfish."

"No," Piper responded, "you're being honest."

Ignoring her, he just sighed, "This isn't like me. I should be doing what's best for the camp and future demigods." He got up and began to walk back to camp.

Without turning around, Piper said loud enough for him to hear. "It's refreshing."

He paused, "What is?"

"Hearing you sound normal."

_**A/N: YAY. RACHEL'S HERE! Let me know what you guys think about me adding her?**_

_**Plus, we have more conflict with Calypso and Reyna, causing some internal conflict with Calypso, aww.**_

_**And I added a Percy and Piper moment, which was eh.**_

_**Let me know what you guys think! Happy reading(:**_


	17. Chapter 17 - The Night Before

_**A/N: For this chapter, it's the night before Percy's first day of school back since he got suspended. Each couple spends the night together because everyone's nervous! So next chapter will be (yup you guessed it) the friday Percy comes back!**_

_**To answer some **_**_reviews, like always:_**

**_Princess of Flames:_****_ yeah, I can see why. That's a good take on it. But I think that they're just so much different in a bunch of other ways, and I could never see them being cannon. I think Nico's happy ending will be accepting himself and finally finding a family in the demigods at Camp Half Blood. Thank you for always reviewing and staying with the story! It means a lot(:_**

_**Josh:**__** WHOA I WAS TOTALLY THINKING ABOUT DOING THAT. okay so now i have to.**_

_**Nox Tenebrarum:**__** Next chapter will have a lot more on the fight, and this chapter has a little bit of Caleo for ya(:**_

_**A Son of Apollo:**__** don't worry, there's Caleo in this one! And thank you! haha**_

_**Okay so that's that. Don't forget to review and let me know what you guys are thinking! They make my day(:**_

_**Anyway, enjoy!**_

Annabeth (same night, Thursday. 11:00pm):

It was cold, her bed felt lumpy, and Annabeth just couldn't sleep. The next morning was Percy's first day back at school since the fight, and she knew that trouble would follow. Andrew and his backstreet boys wouldn't let the fight go. Sad really. Percy would probably just beat them up again.

Mortals never learn.

Annabeth rolled over onto her other shoulder and sighed. She wanted to go visit Percy, but then she remembered the harpies. They'd kill her if she was out of bed at this hour.

She held the blankets closer and laid there for what seemed like hours, when she heard a knock at the cabin door. But not just any knock, 3 quick knocks in a row, a short pause, and 2 more quick knocks. A smile grew on Annabeth's face.

Malcolm groaned from across the room. "Go," he moaned.

"You'll cover for me?" Annabeth asked excitedly.

Malcolm groaned again, which Annabeth understood as "Sure! Go ahead!" So she jumped right out of bed, brushed her teeth, threw a bra on, and opened the door. Percy was wearing dark green, plaid pj bottoms, black fuzzy slippers, and a black, unzipped jacket that revealed his tan chest. Her eyes landed on his. The green in them shone bright under the moonlight, his lips in a smirk.

He opened his mouth to say something, but she sealed his lips with a quick kiss. She returned his surprised stare with a mischievous grin, "Your cabin?"

Percy raised an eyebrow and pointed to Malcolm who was already passed back out in his bed. Annabeth rolled her eyes and whispered, "I got it covered, Seaweed Brain." She grabbed his hand and dragged him out into the cold. There was a thin layer of snow lining the ground. It felt like it was about 20 degrees over freezing. In other words, Chiron had made the weather perfect. It was like he wanted them to sneak out.

Annabeth had practically ran into Percy's cabin. He followed her, closing the door behind him. He turned to face Annabeth, "Wha-"

She silenced him with a deep kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck, her hands running through his messy black hair. She giggled and began to back up towards his bed. When she pulled away for a second for air, he smiled, "What's gotten into you?"

Annabeth laughed and jumped on his bed. "I just couldn't sleep and you knocked and I know you probably wanted to just stay and talk and cuddle but Malcolm was there and I think it'd be cool if we went to your cabin cause you know no one's here and it's cold outside and I miss you and tomorrow's your first day back and I-"

Percy's laughter cut her off, "I don't care about your reasons or what you think I wanted to do." He sat down next to her and tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear. "I just want to be with you."

She looked down at her knees, suddenly flustered. He lifted her chin and gave her a sweet smile, leaning in to press his lips against hers. Her worries melted. Who cares about school or camp, the new demigods or the jock straps. She had Percy and Percy had her.

It was warm in his bed and even warmer in his arms.

Leo:

"This," Calypso breathed while being dragged through the woods by her boyfriend, "is probably your stupidest idea yet. Which is really saying something!"

Leo just laughed and led her deeper into the forest. For some reason, Leo felt like being spontaneous. Earlier, he was just too restless in Cabin 9. So he snuck Calypso out of the Chiron cabin and dragged her out here.

It was cold and dark, about 11:00 at night. There was a thin layer of snow on the ground, but it wasn't too cold. Both Leo and Calypso were wearing pj bottoms and a thin jacket over a camp t-shirt.

"I think I'm a genius," Leo told her confidently.

Calypso giggled and continued walking with him. She pretended to be annoyed with him all the time, but at the end of the day, she always giggled. It lifted Leo's heart and gave him the gusto to keep going. School, camp, queen dirt face; Calypso made everything worth it.

"Where are we go-" she stopped abruptly where she saw the entrance to Bunker 9, "Why didn't I see this coming?"

Leo laughed and opened the door, dragging her inside. It was suddenly warmer inside, the light hum of engines filled the room. He let go of her hands and jumped on one of the only empty tables. He sat down, crossing his legs, and patted to the empty space in front of him.

Calypso rolled her eyes and sat down in front of him. "So why'd you drag me-"

He silenced her with a quick kiss and a goofy grin. "I just miss you."

"We went to school together today, then trained, then dinner and campfire."

"But," he pointed to her and smiled, "we didn't sit together at dinner."

She laughed, "We never do!"

"I know," he frowned, "so I'm making up for lost time."

She rolled her eyes again and kissed him. Leo guessed that Calypso had only recently gotten that good with eye rolls, considering that she does them all the time now. Pretty soon, the feel of the cold outside was just a distant memory.

And although the table was hard and uncomfortable, Leo felt like he'd rather be here with Calypso in his arms than in his warm bed in Cabin 9 anyday.

Jason:

Jason looked at the clock. It read 11:03. He could hear someone run into the door in the cabin next to him and a girls' giggle. Jason smiled. Percy and Annabeth thought they were so clever, sneaking her into Percy's cabin at night.

From his arms, Piper sighed. "Ah, young love."

He kissed her forehead and held her closer, "They think they're so smart."

"Should we tell them that the harpies stopped caring after the war?

Jason shrugged, "No, let them sneak around. It's cuter.

Piper frowned, "I think we're pretty cute."

Jason sighed, "Well… I'm pretty cute."

Piper gasped, "Hey,"

He kissed her and laughed, "Kidding!"

She put her head down to hide her smile, "Jerk."

He lifted up her head and kissed her passionately. She leaned in to deepen the kiss, running her hands through his hair. It sent tingles down from his lips to his toes. She was warm and smelled like vanilla.

He was so into it, it surprised him when she pulled away and smirked, "Jason Grace, you always surprise me."

He gave her a daring smile. "Baby," he said, deepening his voice, "I'm always surprising."

Piper rolled her eyes, "Far from it."

They laid together in a comfortable silence for a while before he broke it. "Nervous?"

She frowned, "For what?"

"Tomorrow, Percy's first day back."

Piper let out a long sigh. "I think it'll be…" she fumbled for the right word, "interesting."

Jason lifted an eyebrow, asking for an explanation.

"You know Andrew and those guys won't let it go," she stated blatantly. "The first couple days, they kept their distance. But yesterday, they followed me after 3rd period."

Jason opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off.

"Just some bullshit about how if Percy doesn't come back, they'll fight me instead."

Jason nodded, "Said that to me too, the other day."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Piper asked.

Jason shrugged, "They're not worth it, remember."

Piper scruffed up her nose, "They keep calling me princess."

"The only thing you're princess off is kicking people's ass." Piper smiled and laughed, but Jason was dead serious. "No really, I wouldn't mess with you."

She just laughed harder and gave him a quick kiss.

Jason tried to give her a confident smile, but he didn't think it came out like that, because Piper just laughed at him and sealed the gap between their lips.

Next time Jason looked at the clock, it was morning.

Nico:

The clock read 11:07, yet Nico still wasn't asleep. It's typical, honestly, for Nico to barely sleep at night. But it has never bothered him this much. Usually when he stayed up all night, he thought about training or monsters. Sometimes he went out into the forest and talked to the dead. Sometimes he went into the Underworld to help out or hang out.

But tonight, he laid in bed, thinking about the next day. It would be Percy's first day back since he got suspended, and for some reason, Nico was nervous.

No, nervous wasn't the right word.

Nico was _excited_.

Those assholes at school had been following him and his friends around all week, and Nico knew that if he hurt them, he could get suspended too. That, he wasn't worried about. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to make friends if he got suspended.

He knew that it sounded stupid, a son of Hades wanting to make moral friends in High School? Nico didn't need friends at school, he had a family at camp. But Nico just wanted to prove to himself that he _could_ make friends, if he wanted them.

But if Andrew and his friends called him "death" one more time, Nico wasn't sure that he wouldn't restrain himself. Then he'd never have friends at school, everyone would be afraid of him. Like everyone was afraid of Percy now.

Percy didn't know, of course. And his other friends either didn't know or didn't care, but people had been talking about Percy all week.

Nico recalled a conversation he overheard between a few juniors.

_"I know, that kid Percy doesn't even understand. Andrew is our starter for football, swimming, and baseball."_

_The other kid shrugged, "Yeah and he still got his ass beat by Percy."_

_The first kid sighed, "Yeah duh, but now our teams are gonna suck. Footballs over, but what about or swim team? Baseball team? We're screwed."_

Nico was worried for Percy. If more kids tried to harass him, Percy would just hit them too. The rest of the year was gonna drag by, Nico knew it.

_**A/N: so whatcha think!? I put in every couple!**_

_**I think I like it, but I honestly haven't really decided yet.**_

_**Don't forget to review! I read them all, they make my day(:**_

_**Happy holidays!**_


	18. Chapter 18 - Percy's Day Back

_**A/N: Weeee, Merry Christmas (Eve)! I hope you all have a great holiday(: So first I'll answer some reviews:**_

_**PercyAnnabeth101:**__** I'm gonna do something like, while still staying in character (i.e. keeping him gay)**_

_**Caleo lover:**__** I post every 2-3 days. Though review motivate me to write longer and better chapters. I don't think I have a favorite, honestly. Annabeth and Percy are always fun. Nico's great. Jason and Piper are interesting and Leo and Calypso are really fun haha. And thank you!**_

_**to everyone else:**__** thank you all! I love reading these, they make my day. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, it's a little bit "morning after" and then dives right into school. It's my longest chapter so far, about 2300 words. I'm trying to make them longer for you guys, as a popular demand.**_

_**Anyways, enjoy!**_

Percy (the next morning, Friday):

The sun shone through the window sill in the Poseidon cabin, waking Percy up. His arms were still wrapped around his girlfriend. Her hair, once piled in a high bun, now lay on the pillow and her shoulders.

Percy didn't want to sit up and ruin it. She was sleeping soundly on his chest. She shivered, so Percy covered her bare chest with a blanket and kissed her forehead. He began to close his eyes and enter bliss again when a bang at the door started him and woke Annabeth.

She shot up, barely covering her chest in time for Leo to barge through the door. When his eyes caught the sight, he put his hand over his eyes, "Whoa whoa, someone slept well. Or not at all."

Annabeth threw a pillow at Leo, "Really?"

Leo put the hand that wasn't covering his eyes up in the air defensively, "Hey, hey. I just came to make sure Percy here wasn't late for his first day back. That, and ask where his girlfriend was. But now my questions are answered, so I'll be going now."

Before they could say anything, Leo was gone. Leaving the door, of course, wide open. Annabeth looked at Percy. "Can you close that so I can try to find my clothes?"

Percy laughed and reached down by his bed, grabbing his plaid pj bottoms. He slid them on from under the blankets, and got up to close the cabin door. Only then would Annabeth get up and search for her clothes.

He watched her, a wide smile plastered on his face. She glared at him, "What?!"

He shrugged, "You're just cute when you're flustered."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and walked into Percy's bathroom, turning on the shower (and giving up the search for her clothes).

They showered quickly, and Percy got dressed and ran into the Athena cabin to grab Annabeth some clothes while she stayed in his cabin, brushing her hair. Malcolm was already gone, training (thankfully), when Percy got there. When Percy returned to his cabin, Annabeth thanked him with a kiss and got dressed.

On there way out of his cabin, she gave his hand a light squeeze. He looked over at her and she kissed his cheek. "You ready?" she asked.

He nodded, "It's just high school."

Nico (lunch time, same day):

Today had been one of the biggest plot twists in Nico's life, which is really saying something.

_Hey! You're a half blood!_

_Hey! You're the son of Hades!_

_Hey! You have another sister!_

_Hey! You're gay!_

_Hey! Percy's super popular after beating up Andrew!_

The list goes on.

And as Nico walked with Annabeth from class to their usual lunch table, his annoyance of this day grew to practically nothing. Why be annoyed that Percy was now the most popular guy out there? Nico had no reason to be.

But Annabeth? She seemed pretty peeved.

"What I don't get," Annabeth questioned, throwing her backpack onto the lunch table, "is why Becca and Jess are still bitches?"

Nico shrugged and sat down across from her, "Everyone seems to be taking sides. Becca and Jess must still be loyal to the Jock Straps."

Annabeth shook her head, "No one's taking sides."

Just then, Percy walked up to their table. But he wasn't alone. "Thanks for the offer," he said to a kid with bushy brown hair and bright blue eyes, "but I'm not interested." Percy sat down next to Annabeth and put his arm around her.

"In what?" Annabeth asked.

The kid sat down next to Nico, across from Percy. "The swim team," he answered. "Percy, I saw you before school swimming. You're amazing! Plus," the kid chuckled, "it looks like Andrew's wrist is still broken, so he won't be joining us for the beginning of the season."

Percy looked at Annabeth, as if asking for her approval. She shrugged, "I don't see the problem." When in fact, her eyes said 'this is gonna be a problem.'

"I don't know, Alex," Percy told the kid. "I'll think about it."

Alex smiled, "Aw thanks dude. Lemme know!" and got up. He turned to walk away when he ran into Piper, "Oh, sorry."

Piper smiled at him. "It's okay! Are you friends with Percy?" I just saw you talk to him," she asked enthusiastically.

He gave her a sly smile and studied her, "If you are, I am."

Jason walked up and put his arm around his girlfriend, "I know I am."

To that, Alex finally left.

Piper huffed and sat down next to Nico. "I can't make any freakin' friends to save my life!"

Jason shrugged, "But you can talk someone into stabbing themselves and fight someone to death, that might save your life."

"It's not the same," she sighed.

Jason just laughed at her and turned to Percy, "What'd he want, man?"

"Me to join the swim team."

Jason's eyes brightened, "Dude, do it!"

Percy looked down and shook his head, "Nah, I'd have an unfair advantage. Plus, it'd take time away from me being at camp and with you guys."

"Away from us?" Leo asked, sitting down followed by Calypso. "Then you should definitely join."

Percy gave him a light punch in the arm, "One more word Valdez, I swear."

Calypso rolled her eyes and brought the conversation back, "What would drag you away from us?"

"If he joined the swim team," Annabeth added in.

Just then, there was an annoying group of laughter from behind Nico. He didn't even turn around to see who it was. "Of course," Nico laughed, "because it wouldn't be lunch without an annoying interruption from the Jock Straps."

"Oh, we're not here to annoy," One of them mused. It sounded like Andrew, "we're here to slap some reality into your friend over there."

"I beat the shit out of you, and you still don't have the decency to call me by my name?" Percy asked.

Nico turned around to see the group. Andrew still stood in front, yet not quite as confidently. Nico could understand why, considering that he still had a brace on his wrist and a bandage on his nose.

Andrew mustered up the best laugh he could after Percy's comment. "It doesn't matter. You think you can make the swim team?! You couldn't even swim out of a current."

"Really?" Percy asked sarcastically. He sat casually, his arm around Annabeth, drinking a coke. "Because last time you said I couldn't do something, I believe I did a fine job. How's that wrist healing up?"

Andrew scrunched up his nose and straightened his posture, like somehow that would help. "You know, Jackson. Me and my boys could swim laps around you."

Percy looked at him inquisitively, "With that wrist?"

Andrew closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure. "I'll be out of this by Monday morning, tryouts start that day after school. I'll see you there."

He walked away, his minions following. Percy mumbled, "If you're lucky."

A group of kids walked by, a girl and 3 guys. They stopped their table.

"Hey," one of the guys said. He was wearing a beanie and jeans, he seemed to be an upperclassman, either a junior or senior. "Heard you almost killed Andrew last week," he said casually. There was a split second of silence where Nico couldn't tell if this kid was gonna punch or pat Percy. But he stuck his hand out for a high five. "Nice.

Percy accepted it, "Thanks man."

"Yeah," the girl said. She had long, blond, straight hair and glasses. She looked at Nico and smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, then went back to her conversation. "Finally someone did it. He's such a dick."

Percy laughed, "I can definitely agree."

She smiled, "I'm Ashley, by the way. But everyone calls me Ash."

The first kid who spoke said, "And I'm Mike," he pointed to one of his friends with short blond hair and brown eyes, "That's Burny, but we call him Bum. And that," he pointed to the last friend with brown curly hair, "that's Felix."

Felix smiled, "Call me Flex."

Ashley laughed and lightly hit his shoulder, "You can't lift anything, if you flexed we'd see flab. I'm not calling you Flex."

Percy laughed and introduced all of us before Annabeth. He then gave her hand a light squeeze and said, "and this is my beautiful girlfriend Annabeth."

Annabeth smiled and gave them a little wave.

They waved back. Bum gave Percy a little nudge and whispered something to Percy. For a split second, Percy had that look in his eyes when he kills a monster or when he see's a math test. But the look faded, and he just laughed and said, "Yeah, I will."

"Anyway," Ashley said, "good luck at swim tryouts. Everyone's rooting for you."

Percy's eyebrows pushed together, "How does everyone know?"

"Oh, Alex. He just told everyone that you're gonna beat out Andrew for captain this season."

Percy rolled his eyes, "Of course he did."

"Well," Mike said, beginning to walk away, "See you guys later!"

Before she walked away, Ashley looked back at Nico and gave him a timid smile. She bit her lip and gave him a small wave, then turned around to follow her friends.

Annabeth nudged Nico's shoulder, "Whoa, look who's into you."

Nico gave her a confused look, "Who?"

Percy laughed, "Ashley of course."

"Oh," Nico said, "I didn't notice."

"How?" Leo asked, "She was hot."

Calypso punched his arm.

"I mean she had good posture."

Nico laughed, "Nah, I don't think so."

Leo frowned, "No, she actually did have good post-"

"I mean, no I don't think I'm gonna go for her," Nico said, cutting him off. Nico looked up and met eyes with Jason, who gave Nico a sympathetic frown. Only Jason knew the truth. Nico shot him a pleading look that said 'help me!'

"I don't think she'd Nico's type," Jason said. Nico widened his eyes to say 'whoa too obvious' and Jason lightened up and said, "You know. He's into brunettes and she's way older and yeah."

Before people could think deeper into the situation, Nico stood up. "Yeah I gotta go to the bathroom." And he left them sitting at the table scratching their heads.

Percy (same day, after school, back at camp):

Percy wondered why the demigods at camp seemed to be more into his fight, suspension, and first day back more than the kids at school. Percy assumed it was because Percy and his friends were the campers connection to the real world, like reality tv. But whenever someone asked him, Percy just shrugged and said, "Teenagers suck."

To which most people, like Butch this morning, reply with, "Yeah but then what happened?" Always wanting to know more.

So Percy decided to unwind and hang out with Rachel. She never wanted something out of him. She always just wanted to… be.

Right now, she threw her head back in laughter, the colors of the sunset radiating off of her skin. Percy scrunched his eyebrows together, "It's not funny."

But Rachel just kept laughing. "Oh yes it is!" she got out between laughs.

Percy put his head in his hands, "But what do I do!"

"Join, obviously."

"But I can control the water."

"Yeah," Rachel laughed, "kind of the point. You can blow Andrew out of the water, literally if you want too."

Okay, that one got a smile out of Percy.

"Plus, it's a way to get your mind off of everything. Getchu out of this slump." She nudged his shoulder, continuing to watch the sunset over the lake, "What better way than to spend hours a day in the water, your favorite place!"

Percy shrugged, "I'll think about it."

"That's your problem!" Rachel sighed. "You've been putting everything in the 'I'll think about it later' pile. Think about it now! Deal with it now!"

"I-"

"Right now, I wanna hear a yes or no. Are you going to try out for swim team on Monday."

Without skipping a beat, Percy replied, "Yes."

"Okay then," she banged her hand on the snow covered grass. "It's settled. No backing out."

And for some reason, Percy was okay with that.

_**A/N: yay! so some Percabeth, some lunch time school drama, and some Rachel! Let me know what you guys think about Percy joining the swim team. Ohhh and Ashley might have a crush on Nico?! Whoa.**_

_**Just some questions I have:**_

_**1. Which is your favorite character POV?**_

_**2. What's your favorite conflict going on?**_

_**3. Favorite riveralry I have going?**_

_**4. Favorite chapter so far?**_

_**I wanna know what you guys like and don't like and what you want to hear more **_**_of! Thank you all so much, have a happy holiday season(:_**


	19. Chapter 19 - Charmspeak and Swim Tryouts

_**A/N: so to my previous author's note post, please I want everyone to vote on which story they want to hear first! thank you all so much for reading, I hope you guys like this chapter.**_

_**But first, answering the reviews**_

_**josh or jcorder: ONE OF US. haha thanks for everything!**_

_**guest who commented on the cussing: the story is rated T for a reason. reading it and then complaining that there's cussing is like watching porn and complaining that there's nudity.**_

_**keralaismyhome and guest: I'm sorry but I'm gonna keep Nico gay because I'm gonna keep them in character and how I think they'll develop. I know a lot of people don't like how Nico's gay, but that's just who he is.**_

_**mnlckbmlkfbnmlfd: OHH good idea! I'm gonna do that. Thank you!**_

_**to everyone else: thank you all so much, I'm happy you liked it. Your feedback means so much to me!**_

_**Annnddd on with the story:**_

Piper (Sunday morning):

There were a lot of things Piper could do because she was Aphrodite's daughter, most of which, she wasn't proud of. Speak French, charmspeak, the list goes on. So, being the daughter of love, Piper knew something was up with Nico.

She hadn't ever had a full conversation with him one on one, and she hadn't known him that long, but she knew he was hiding… from something. Himself? Piper could only guess. Maybe he had a secret dead girlfriend in the Underworld!

She shook that thought out of her mind.

Oh, or maybe-

"Hey, Piper."

Piper looked up from her book (that she wasn't really reading) to see Hank standing at the door. He was wearing his camp half blood t-shirt and jeans. His hair was a mess and his smile was huge. He held his sword in his hand and was leaning against the doorway.

"Wanna go train? I gotta work on my dodges," he said with a frown.

But Piper didn't feel like training. She had a lot on her mind. She held up the book in her hands. "I'm sorry, I gotta finish this book for school," she lied.

Hank put his head down and laughed. He walked over to her, picked up the book, flipped it over so it wasn't upside down anymore, and handed it back. "Okay," he winked, "good luck with that."

He turned around and began to walk out. "Wait," Piper called, "I'm sorry, i just-"

"It's fine," he interrupted without turning back around. "I'll see ya at dinner Pipes."

"You're the best."

"I know."

And he was gone.

Piper sighed. She wasn't lying, Hank really was the best brother she could ask for. Even if he was just a half brother. And if his mom was Venus and not Aphrodite. It was nice getting along with a sibling. Not that Piper fought with all of her siblings, they were great people. They just weren't as much of warriors as Piper and Hank were. Him being Roman, her being… well, herself.

So with Hank and her being the only children of Aphrodite that stayed at camp year round, Piper now sat in her cabin alone. She thought about school. She thought about Jason. She thought about Annabeth and Percy. But mostly, she thought about-"

"Piper?" there was a knock at the door.

Piper got up and wiped her tears with her sleeve. What the- when did she start crying? This was so unlike her. Emotional over friends and relationships? What did she even have to be sad about?

She walked over and opened the door. Nico stood there shuffling his feet. When she opened it, he looked up and smiled at her.

"Oh, hey Nico. What's up?"

He pointed behind himself toward the pavilion. "Calypso and Reyna," he rolled his eyes, "they're fighting again. Leo and Jason were trying to help, but they suck. So then Hank came to help, but he sucks," Nico took a deep breath before finishing. "So then Hank told me you were in here and you have that whole charmspeak thing so… yeah."

Piper laughed and took a deep breath, "Yeah I'll-"

"Whoa," Nico's eyes filled with concern as he realized that she seemed to have been crying, "Piper, are you okay?"

Piper wiped the last tear from her cheek and smiled. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good."

Nico studied her face to make sure she wasn't lying. When he was satisfied, he sighed and gestured for her to follow him. "Alright, well come on."

She followed Nico past the cabins and into the pavilion. When Piper saw the scene going on, she sighed.

"You're satanical!" Calypso screamed, tears building in the corner of her eyes.

Leo stood a couple feet behind Calypso, flustered, not knowing what to do. Jason and Hank sat at one of the tables. Jason had his elbow propped up on the table with his chin resting on the palm of his hand. He looked, in general, tired. Hank was leaning forward, his elbows propped up on his knees with his chin resting on his palms. He looked, in general, annoyed.

"Finally," Jason sighed, "took ya long enough, Di Angelo."

Nico smiled, but quickly turned it into a frown when he saw the girls fighting.

That was another thing Piper had noticed, Jason and Nico had gotten closer. Out of everyone that Jason could have gotten close to, Piper was surprised it was Nico. It was like they both knew something that she didn't.

"Piper, please." Nico gestured to the fighting girls who were shouting empty insults.

Piper stepped between the girls. "Reyna!" she shouted, putting in all her will and charmspeak into her words, "Shut up!"

Immediately, she stopped shouting.

"And Calypso, stop crying."

She stopped. They were both looking at her patiently. Oh, how Piper missed her charmspeak.

Piper threw her hands up in exasperation. "Can you guys just stop fighting? Seriously, it gets annoying." She turned to Reyna, "You're the one that came to our camp, and we're damn welcoming, okay? We accept Calypso as a camper, so must you. Do you have to like her? I don't care. Do you have to respect her? You freakin' better."

Then she turned to Calypso, "If she's gonna pick at everything you do, tune her out. We love you, you have friends here. Don't snoop to her level, don't make it worse than it is. Be the better person."

Calypso immediately nodded. Reyna frowned for a moment, and then sighed and nodded.

Piper wasn't sure if it was the charmspeak or if someone had stuck Reyna with a compassion needle, but Reyna turned to Calypso and hugged her. Reyna let go of her and said, "I'm sorry, okay? It's just different at this camp. It's so… laid back, so…"

Calypso laughed, "Greek?"

Reyna put her head down, slightly ashamed of her words a couple weeks ago. "Yeah," then she met Calypso's eyes, "I'm sorry about that too." She lightly punched Calypso's shoulder, "because a Greek can punch pretty damn hard."

"I taught her everything she knows!" Leo shouted. Everyone stared at him. "How to fight… I taught her… On the Argo 2… You know," he waved innocently, "you guys just continue apologizing, I'll be here when you're done."

The girls laughed awkwardly, now not knowing what to say.

"Well!" Hank stood up and rubbed his hands together. "Been fun! But… if everyone's good now, I'm gonna go train. Anyone wanna go?"

Calypso sighed, "Sword fighting… that sounds good."

"I second that," Reyna said.

"I'm coming too," Nico agreed.

The three began to walk away until Leo realized that he was about to be left alone with Jason and Piper as his girlfriend left him. His eyes widened, "Whoa, wait up!" and he followed them.

Jason groaned and stood up, walking toward his girlfriend. He held his arm up, asking to wrap it around Piper. She obliged, nestling her head into his chest.

"So how long do you think it'll last?" she mumbled into his shirt.

"By the end of that sword practice."

Percy (monday after school):

"Come on Perc-"

Annabeth's voice was muted as Percy's ears went under the water again. When he was swimming, he tuned everything out. Unless he was using his powers, which, at this time, he wasn't.

Percy didn't think it was fair to use his control over the water to help him get on the swim team (and hopefully be captain). If he was gonna beat Andrew, he was going to do it because he was a better swimmer, flat out.

And it turned out (surprise, surprise), he was.

Percy touched the end of the pool, announcing that he was done with his 400. He took his goggles off (which he didn't need, but it'd be suspicious if he didn't use them) and wiped the water from his face. He leaned against the side of the pool and waved to his friends who were cheering quite loudly.

This was about the time that Andrew touched the end of the pool to announce that he was done. At first, he smiled proudly. And then he saw Percy.

Percy smiled and stretched out his hand, "Nice race man."

At this time, everyone was done with their swim and were watching Andrew and Percy. Andrew pursed his lips and shook Percy's hand.

They got out of the pool and Coach Boone patted both of their backs. "Well done boys!"

The pat seemed to almost push Andrew back in the pool, he was so tired. But Percy just stood up straighter and smiled.

Coach turned to Percy, "Percy Jackson, why have I never seen you in this pool before?!"

Percy smiled, "I'm new this year sir."

Coach threw his head back and roared with laughter, "Where've you been before! Swimming with Phelps?!"

"No sir, I was uh," Percy fumbled for the right words, "homeschooled," he decided.

"Homeschooled?!" Coach bellowed, "Well you found your way to us, and I'm glad ya did!" He pat/hit Percy's back again, "Welcome to the tem, boy!"

As much as Percy wanted to instantly dry himself and walk to the car with his friends, Annabeth voted against it. "No way," she shook her head, "go bond! You just made the team. Go shower and change and we'll meet you in the parking lot."

And because Annabeth controlled him (he'll admit), Percy found himself drying off with a towel in the locker room.

"Hey Percy!" Alex walked up and unlocked his stuff from the locker next to Percy's. "I'm sorry about Friday, telling people you were gonna try out-"

"And telling them I was gonna beat out Andrew for captain," Percy said distastefully.

Alex bit his lip, "Yeah… and that…"

Percy laughed, "It's cool, Alex. It's gonna be a fun season." Maybe Percy was just trying to convince himself.

Alex laughed and nodded, happy that Percy forgave him.

A kid walked up scrubbing a towel on his head. He ripped it off laughing, unveiling short brown curls. Percy smiled, "Oh hey, Felix right? You didn't tell me you were on the swim team!"

"Yeah!" he shook Percy's hand, "and you're Percy, the new swim captain!"

Percy widened his eyes and leaned in to whisper to Alex and Felix, "Dude, no I'm not. I don't wanna start a fight with Andrew-"

"Again."

"I just made his team," Percy finished.

Alex laughed, "Soon to be your team, but it's whatever."

The boys finished changing and walked out with their swim bags in hand. Percy waved goodbye as they went their separate ways in the parking lot. He hopped in the front seat, Annabeth in the drivers seat. She leaned forward and gave him a passionate kiss and ran her hand threw his hair, taking him by surprise.

"Whoaa!" Leo yelled from the middle seat in the back, throwing a paper cup at them, "get a room!" Annabeth let go of him and threw her head back in laughter.

Percy closed his eyes and concentrated on the water dripping from his hair and body. When he opened them, he was completely dry.

Jason smiled, "I never get tired of that."

"So cool," Calypso breathed.

Annabeth turned the car on and began driving back to camp, excited to tell Chiron and the other campers the good news.

_**A/N: Weee Piper uses some charmspeak, Reyna and Calypso kind of make up, and Percy makes the swim team! What'd you all think!?**_

_**PLEASE DON'T FORGET:**_

_**check out my authors note and let me know which plot you guys like better for my stories! Whichever one wins, I'll release and write first!**_

_**thank you, and happy reading(:**_


	20. Chapter 20 - Mortals are Difficult

_**A/N: guys I **__**AM**__** CONTINUING THIS STORY. I intend to finish EVERY STORY I start. Always.**_

_**In other news, I posted the first chapter of The Story of Lacy Ashkin, which was idea number 2. For the first time in my writing career, I've planned this one out. It's gonna be long and crazy with a lot of plot twists and mysteries and I'M SO EXCITED. I actually think it's gonna be really good.**_

_**Let me just say it's not like anything you've ever read.**_

_**So please please PLEASE check it out.**_

_**Enjoy chapter 20!**_

Percy (3 days later, Thursday. Dinner at camp):

As it so rarely happened, dinner tonight was torchure. Percy sat, as usual, by himself at the Poseidon cabin. He took a bite of his pizza aggressively, hoping to fill the void in the pit of his stomach with food.

Not surprisingly, it didn't work.

He swallowed the food and took a sip of his blue coke.

_Don't look, don't look…_

He looked.

_Dammit Percy!_ he scolded himself._ I thought you were stronger than this!_

Annabeth, of course, just laughed. Why did he have to be so weak? He looked over again and saw her wink. He choked on his coke. She laughed.

Torturer.

Percy turned back to his food and tried to focus on anything but Annabeth. _Food. School. Water. Horses. Blackjack. War. Gods. Olympus. Architecture. Annabeth. Dammit._

Percy looked up from his plate when it was empty and realized that no one was in the pavilion anymore.

"They went to the campfire," a soft voice whispered in his ear.

Percy jumped, spilling the rest of his coke on his knee.

Annabeth giggled and sat down next to him. She grabbed a napkin and dabbed his knee, drying it off.

"I can do it," Percy told her.

"Nope," she said, popping the 'p' at the end, "I wouldn't want you to strain yourself. You have practice tomorrow! Mr. Swim-Team-Member/Soon-to-be-Swim-Team-Captain."

Percy's eyebrows pushed together, "Why weren't you this helpful when I was going into battle?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm very helpful."

"Oh yeah, thank you. It was so helpful when we were walking to the pavilion and you… did that right before we had to go to dinner. I couldn't stop thinking about you the entire time."

She laughed and softly kissed his lips. "Now I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," she smiled. Her eyes brightened and she leaned in closer to him, "You mean this?" She pressed her lips against his in full force. She draped her leg over his lap, straddling him. He could feel her lips curve into a smile against his.

Percy pulled away to take a deep breath (and try to remember his name). "Yeah," he breathed, "that."

She laughed at his reaction and hopped off his lap. She sighed and looked up at the sky. "It's nice, isn't it?"

"What is?"

She wrapped her arms around his neck, running her hands through his messy black hair. Her grey eyes sparkled, even in the dim lighting. "The fact that I was dabbing soda off of your knee instead of blood."

Percy raised an eyebrow at her. "You're so romantic," he sighed sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes, "Stop being annoying and just kiss me, Seaweed Brain."

She closed her eyes and leaned forward, but to his and her surprise, Percy stood up. Annabeth sighed, pouting. "Nuh, uh," Percy argued. "You torchured me, now it's my turn." He held his hand out to her, "Come on, we're late for the campfire."

She groaned, but still accepted his hand.

**_A/N: _**

_**Alright guys. Say it with me: Nico. Is. Gay… He won't be dating a girl because he doesn't like girls… Not everyone's happy ending is getting a boyfriend or girlfriend. Finding love isn't always happiness, sometimes happiness is finally accepting yourself and coming to terms with who you are.**_

_**In my story, Nico is finally finding family in the demigods at camp half blood while trying to accept himself. I added Ashley because I think she'll help Nico understand himself more, and they're gonna end up being good friends. But Nico will not date her. I'm sorry to those who really want that, I've been getting a lot of requests for that.**_

_**I hope I've cleared everything up.**_

Nico (the next day, Friday):

Nico sat in the back of his Drawing and Painting class, sketching in his notepad.

"What's that?" a sweet voice asked from behind his right shoulder.

Nico kept his eyes on his drawing. "A collar for Cerberus. I wanna make him one that'll keep him from stepping on the new souls without irritating his necks." Nico shrugged, "But this is just a prototype. I'm gonna get Leo and Nyssa to help me sometime this weekend."

The voice giggled and Nico turned around to meet light green eyes hidden under glasses. The girl was wearing a gray beanie that matched her gray stud earrings. She tucked a long strand of straight blond hair behind her ear.

"Oh," Nico sighed, "Hey Ashley."

"Hey Nico," she smiled. "I didn't know you had such a funny imagination. Or that you were in this class," she said with a slight hint of embarrassment.

Nico shrugged, "Not many people do. I sit in the back."

"What a coincidence," Ashley flashed him a bright white smile, "so do I. Now." She moved so she was sitting on his left side, their shoulders touching. She leaned over to look at his drawing of the 3 head collar. She raised her eyebrow at him.

Nico laughed nervously, trying to think of something to come up with. "It's for a toy, for my dad's company."

Fortunately, she bought it. Unfortunately, she wanted to hear more. Her eyes widened in anticipation. "Your dads company? Is he in the toy business?"

Nico laughed to himself. His dad in the toy business, yeah that sounds just like the god of the underworld. "Not exac... well actually yeah. Yeah, he's coming out with a three headed dog toy called Cerberus."

"Based on the mythological 3 headed dog that guards the Underworld in Greek mythology, I'm guessing."

Nico looked at her in astonishment. "How'd you know that?"

She shrugged, causing the strand of hair that she previously had tucked behind her ear to fall back in front of her glasses. "I'm kind of a nerd."

Nico laughed and turned back to his drawing. "Well, I don't know how it'll work. But it's good enough for now."

"Either way, your dad will love it!" she said it so enthusiastically, like she was talking to a 3rd grader who just drew a terrible picture of a bird and was going to give it to his dad for Father's Day.

"Love's a strong word," Nico mumbled to himself.

She didn't seem to hear, and tried to keep the conversation going. "So, are you actually a freshman?"

"Yeah…?" Nico questioned.

"I was just wondering. I mean, people never get into drawing and painting as underclassman. I barely made it as a sophomore. Usually all the seniors get in. Like my brother," she pointed to a kid sitting in the front with a bunch of jocks surrounding him. He had curly brown hair and soft brown eyes. The boys all seemed to be laughing at something that the kid drew.

"Wait," Nico asked, "isn't that the kid that introduced you to us yesterday? MIke?"

Ashley shrugged, "Yeah some call him Mike, I call him brother."

"He's on the swim team, right?"

"Yeah, your friend Percy just made it right?"

"Yup, we're all super proud."

She began tapping her pencil against her notebook, focusing on their conversation. "We all? As in your group of friends? Or as people call you guys superheros?"

Nico pursed his lips. "I still don't get why people call us that… but yeah, us."

She took a deep breath, as if wondering whether or not she should say what she was about to say. "I was wondering… How do you all know each other? I mean, you're not all related, yet you're all new this year and somehow you're all best friends? Like did you guys meet over the summer?"

Nico thought for a moment. How could he explain this in a way that wouldn't be weird to a mortal? Because 'well our half horse camp director thought it would better the future half-bloods - which is half god, half human - if they went to school and didn't only participate in deadly war training' didn't sound very sane.

"Yeah, kind of. See, our parents… are all in the military or army or are famous or traveling or whatever. So our parents all sent us to the same boarding school in upstate New York a couple years ago. But the boarding school is trying this new thing where they send some of the kids to public school during school hours, but then we go back and board there. It's like an experiment." He smiled sheepishly.

She smiled and nodded, "Well I'm glad they did."

Nico sighed in relief. It worked.

Nico was a terrible liar. He was also worried that she would keep asking questions and Nico would end up shouting 'I'm a demigod, okay!?' He had to turn the conversation around and start asking her questions.

"So Mike's your brother, huh?"

She nodded and looked over to the front of the classroom where her brother was now drawing something on a girls hand. Ashley laughed, "Yeah, sadly. But family's family. Whatcha gonna do? Do you have any siblings."

Nico world suddenly stopped spinning. How did he even begin to answer that question? And it's not even like Ashley was being nosy, it was a really simple question that most kids would easily be able to answer.

But not Nico. Never Nico.

Ashley must have saw the drop in his mood, because she frowned. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize… I shouldn't have asked." She grabbed her stuff and moved seats.

And for some reason, some stupid non-existent reason, he let her go.

Jason (the same day, Friday, after school):

Chiron either A: had to pack them better lunches for school or B: had to stop having random meetings during dinner time.

Piper seemed annoyed too. She rested her head on Jason's shoulder and let out a loud sigh. "I'm so hungry.

Nico sat across from us, chewing and hiding something in his lap. He sighed and met eyes with Piper. "Here," he held out the crackers that he was hiding in his lap.

She grinned and grabbed one. "You're the best."

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled.

Just then, Percy walked through the door of the rec room holding Annabeth's hand. "Who's the best?" he asked.

"Jason!" Nico yelled. Obviously, he didn't want to share any more crackers. "He's the best."

Percy just shrugged and sat down next to Leo, who was laughing. "I mean I'm not gonna argue, the dude can fly."

Jason nodded, "Tartarus yeah I can."

"So, what does Chiron want to talk to us about now?" Calypso asked, taking a sip of iced tea.

"School again, I'm guessing," Piper sighed.

"Isn't it obvious?" Percy suggested. "He's gonna tell me to quit the swim team.

That got everyone's attention.

"Why would he do that?" Jason asked.

Percy put his arm around Annabeth. "Because, I can control the water. It's not fair if I'm on the swim team."

"But…" Calypso added, "you didn't use it to get on the team, did you?"

Percy looked a little offended, "No, of course not!"

Chiron opened the door and wheeled himself in. "And I would never doubt you Percy, you have a heart of gold."

"Then…" Nico questioned, "what's this about?"

The old man sighed, his eyes full of wisdom like usual. "It's about school and Percy's recent involvement with an after school program, yes. I actually find it very comforting that Percy has joined the swim team, and I would like to suggest that you all find some type of club or team to join."

The rec room filled with muffle groans.

"Now, now," he tried to calm the young demigods down, "this will be a good thing. Not only will you guys learn about how mortals do what you guys love, but I'm hoping that you all will be able to teach them a few things as well."

They all just looked at him.

"Like, Leo," Chiron sighed, "there must be some kind of mechanical club you can join."

Leo sighed loudly and leaned back in his seat, "Well, I guess. Maybe. But Chiron-"

"It's just something to think about for all of you. Make friends, have fun. I think this could really work." He began to roll out of the room.

"Wait," Piper called, "that's it?"

"Yes," Chiron told them. "I am late for a game of Pinochle with Mr. D. And gods know, he gets irritated when I am late."

So Chiron left the room, leaving the hero's annoyed and hungry.

_**A/N: yay! So what'd you all think?**_

_**Don't forget, check out my new story! It's not like anything you've ever read, it's gonna be really good!**_

_**Thank you all so much, and happy reading.**_


	21. Chapter 21 - Goodbye's and Hello's

_**A/N: Okay so first off YES I AM PLANNING ON FINISHING THIS STORY. I will finished EVERY story I start.**_

_**Second off, I posted the first 2 chapters of my next story called The Story of Lacy Ashkin. When I first asked people which idea to do first, I got more requests for the second idea, so I posted this. Then after I posted it, a lot more people asked for the High School AU story.**_

_**SO after A New Start is over, I will begin the High School AU AND continue The Story of Lacy Ashkin.**_

_**Please check out my new story, I think it's gonna be interesting. It's about a 12 yo demigod who isn't getting claimed. There's a lot of question over who her parent is. IT'S GONNA BE REALLY INTERESTING PLEASE CHECK IT OUT I BEG YOU.**_

_**So anyway, here's the 21st chapter of A New Start**_

* * *

Annabeth (the next day, Saturday afternoon):

The sun shone brightly outside of the Big House, which was opposite from the mood. Everyone, surprisingly, was kind of sad.

Annabeth looked over to see Reyna and Calypso talking and laughing. It put a smile on Annabeth's face. Then Reyna walked up and gave Annabeth a hug, taking Annabeth by surprise. Reyna pulled away and smiled. "Thank you."

"What for?" Annabeth asked.

"For accepting us." And without further explanation, Reyna moved on and began saying her goodbyes to the other demigods.

Frank walked up and gave Annabeth a dopey smile. She rolled her eyes and pulled him in for a hug. "I wish we could stay longer," Frank sighed.

Annabeth laughed, "Don't say that, New Rome needs their praetor."

That seemed to cheer him up.

Then Hazel walked up to Annabeth. She grabbed her hands and they stood there for a moment as a tear ran down Hazel's cheek. Then they both started laughing. "Awww," Hazel pulled Annabeth in for a hug, "we'll miss you."

"We'll come visit!"

"Soon!"

Next up was Octavian.

He shuffled his way over, looking down at his feet. Annabeth put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. "That bad?" she asked.

"What?" He met her eyes.

"Was being here that bad?"

He shrugged, "The food was good."

Annabeth laughed and that seemed to brighten his mood a little bit.

"And so were the people," he admitted.

"Don't worry," she told him, "we'll visit Camp Jupiter soon."

Annabeth couldn't tell if he was annoyed or thankful, but either way he walked away. Hank came up and hugged Annabeth, and within a couple more minutes, they were loaded up in the camp van and sent to the airport.

Percy didn't seem comfortable with them flying, but Jason calmed him down by telling us that he already prayed to his dad for them to have a safe flight. Percy seemed to calm down a little bit.

As the group of demigods dispersed, Annabeth walked back to her cabin with Percy hanging on her shoulders. "Ugh," she groaned, trying to show annoyance by suppressing a smile, "Perce…"

He planted kisses down her neck, "Mmm," he moaned against her skin.

She let out a giggle, "Someone's in a good mood."

To this, Percy finally stopped and stepped in front of her, walking backwards. He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I am! I don't know why."

"Could it have anything to do with the romans leaving?" I asked, an eyebrow raised.

He scuffed, "You make it sound like our in-laws just left after a terrible couple of weeks. Come on! It was Frank and Hazel, I missed them."

"What about-"

"Hank's a good guy too."

I laughed, "And Reyna and Octavian?"

He shrugged, "I guess we'll see them on the highway to Hades."

* * *

Calypso (two days later, Monday, after school):

"Are you sure about this?" Piper asked. She cocked her head slightly, studying the list of after school programs.

Calypso shrugged. "How bad can it be?"

Piper squinted at the list and read from the piece of paper pinned to the bulletin board, _"Fun and eco-friendly! Learn new ways to garden with friends in NYP's first ever Gardening Club. Secrets to the roundest tomatoes, sweetest flowers, and hottest peppers! Join in room K203 on Monday's after school."_

"Who doesn't like flowers?" Calypso tried to convince Piper. And herself. Calypso used to garden all the time back on Ogygia. Since Chiron wants them all to join something, why not join something so easy that she could do it in her sleep?

Piper just sighed. "I don't."

"Come on," I said, nudging her shoulder. "Embrace your inner Aphrodite!"

Oh, if looks could kill.

"Piper, it's either that or the mechanic club with Leo."

"What about soccer?"

The girls began walking to room K203, shuffling through the nearly empty hallways. "Even if you made the soccer team," Calypso tried to convince Piper, "you couldn't be on the guys team with Jason."

Piper sighed in defeat. "Jason's never played soccer before in his life, how'd he make the team?"

Calypso just raised an eyebrow like it should be obvious.

"Oh," Piper sighed, "duh, control over wind currents. Gotcha. Okay," now Piper was just trying to come up with anything except gardening club, "what about Annabeth? What's she doing?"

Calypso thought for a moment. "Nothing, that I know of." Calypso saw the sign that said 'Gardening Club' and began making her way over there.

"What's Nico doing?" Piper asked.

"Drawing and Painting," Calypso answered.

Piper sighed in exasperation. "If Annabeth doesn't have to do it, why do we?"

Calypso rolled her eyes, "Stop complaining," they had arrived at room K203, "alright, you ready?"

"Are we really doing this?" Piper groaned.

"Tartarus yeah we are."

After another death glare, Piper opened the door.

Gardening club, here they come.

* * *

Percy (2 days later, Wednesday):

A week and a half.

Percy had only been on the swim team for a week and a half and he was already sick of towel drying. Plus, the ocean was way better than a pool. All there was in a pool was water. In lakes or the ocean, there was life.

But still, swimming for 2 hours a day really gave Percy time to clear his mind. He focused on his breathing (trying his best to not breath underwater) and the feel of the water.

Now that the romans left, Percy felt more at ease. When they were here, he felt like he had to be constantly watching them. It sucked that they came when he had to be at school. He felt like there was no escape. Dodging trouble at school, dodging trouble at camp.

But now, as he swam laps in the pool, he couldn't help but smile at the clarity in his mind.

"Per-"

"PERC-"

He stopped swimming in the middle of the pool, treading water. He took off his goggles. "What?" he asked, looking around.

The entire swim team was out of the pool, dripping wet. Coach stood with them. They all stared at Percy in awe as he treaded water.

Percy lifted an eyebrow and slowing swam over to the edge of the pool. "Never seen anyone tread water before?" he asked casually, getting out of the pool.

"N-not that…" Alex stammered, "Coach blew the whistle and we all got out but you-"

"Sorry," Percy grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. "Must not have heard."

"Kid, do you know how fast you were going?"

Oh shoot. "No?"

Coach shook his head, "I'd give anything to go back and record that time, because Percy I think you just broke a record, a world record maybe."

Dammit.

* * *

"PERCY JACKSON DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE?!" Annabeth yelled at him inside his cabin.

Percy rolled his eyes and took his shirt off. "They didn't time it, I'm fine."

"Okay, but what if they did?" she was now pacing back and forth, almost running into the fountain that his father gave him a year or so ago.

Percy just laughed and casually spread out on his bed, "Wise girl, you need to take a deep breath."

She stopped and pointed a strong finger at him, "You…!" she stumbled for a good comeback, "need to take a deep breath!"

He laughed and put his hands behind his neck, leaning back and yawning. Annabeth pouted and slumped down on the edge of his bed.

Percy studied her. She wore the same thing she had been wearing all day. A simple blue v-neck (after all, she couldn't wear a CHB t-shirt to school everyday) and jean shorts, her hair in a long loose braid. Her face stripped of any makeup except for a light coat of mascara. She looked, in simple words, stunning.

"What?" she asked.

Percy must have been smiling while looking at her. How could he not? He shook his head, "Nothing." She shrugged it off, deep in thought. He stretched his arms out to her, "Come 'eer."

She complied, snuggling up to him, nuzzling her head into his chest. She let out a deep breath, obviously feeling more comfortable. They laid there for a while, listening to each others breathing.

Annabeth was about to fall asleep too, when Percy shook her lightly. "Wise girl?"

"Mmm," she groaned.

"Don't fall asleep yet."

"Why not?" she complained. "I don't wanna go back to my cabin."

He chuckled softly, "I don't want you to go back either. Let's just get you into some pj's."

She groaned and flipped onto her stomach. She reached back and unhooked her bra, then threw it across the room. Flipping onto her back, she unbuttoned her jean shorts and wiggled them off. Then she snuggled under the covers of Percy's bed and groaned against his pillow, "Good enough."

Percy just laughed and pulled her toward him. He kissed her forehead and began drifting off. "Good night, I love you."

"I love you too, Seaweed Brain."

* * *

_**A/N: so that was the shortest chapter I've done in a while, but the rest will all be longer, don't worry.**_

_**So I had to get rid of the Romans I'm sorry don't shoot me. If you guys want, I can add some flashbacks with the romans? just let me know.**_

_**Don't forget to check out my new story The Story of Lacy Ashkin!**_

_**Thank you all so much, and as usual, happy reading!**_


	22. Chapter 22 - One Punch

**_A/N: hey guys! so here's chapter 22! so to answer some of your reviews:_**

**_Absolute Fan: you literally make my day, thank you so much! I really don't think I'm that good, but you're so sweet!_**

**_teamleo4: aw no don't hate Reyna! she's not a bad person, it's just all so different for her. I love Reyna, don't have my story make you hate her!_**

**_welovefandoms: aw thank you! I tried really hard to keep them in character as much as I can(:_**

**_jcorder: yes I am gonna write both of the ideas! the second one has already been uploaded, I'm on chapter 3! I'm planning on writing the first idea (High School AU), considering that I've already written the first chapter. I probably won't start posting it until I'm done with this story and the Lacy Ashkin story. Thank you so much!_**

**_guest with the awesome ideas: OH MY GODS wait so when you say "me and my friends" does that mean you know multiple people who are reading this?! I love you. Also, your ideas are awesome! I was thinking of doing something like that, but all in time heheh all in time_**

**_to everyone else,_**

**_in the past week i've probably gotten some of the best reviews ever and let me just say you guys are the best readers in the world! thank you all for putting up with me!_**

**_Anyway, enjoy!_**

* * *

Andrew (2 days later, Friday):

Percy Jackson.

That pretty much summed up Andrew's last 2 weeks at school. First, they fought and that asshole broke Andrew's wrist and nose. Then, Percy made the swim team. That pool was Andrew's safe haven, and now he's… Percy-ing it up!

Andrew stormed out of Geometry, shouldered his backpack, and steamrolled down the halls. At first, Percy just kind of annoyed him. But now, even the slightest mention of his name had Andrew in flames. So after a full class period with Percy and his girlfriend? You could say he'd had better days.

Becca came up and threw her arm around Andrew, "Drew, guess what?" She looked good. She had a pencil skirt, wrapping tightly around her thighs and butt, and a light pink flowy shirt on top. Her long hair was straight, as usual, hiding large silver hoop earrings that matched her necklace.

"What?" he asked in aggravation.

"Ouch," she said, "someone's a little feisty this morning. Someone deflate your football?"

He cracked a smile, "No." He sighed, "I just had class with Percy and Annabeth and-"

"Ugh, hate that bitch. You know, I had science with her this morning, she was so annoying." She flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"What'd she do?" he asked.

Becca thought for a moment. "She was, like, taking notes. But that's not the point, she's just super fucking annoying, you know?"

No, he didn't know. "Yeah, totally."

Andrew was so mad, but he couldn't take it out on Becca. She was just trying to get through the day like him. He had to take it out on someone who wouldn't be a problem. Someone like-

"Watch it," Mike Harding said, bumping into him as he walked by.

Instead of letting him go, Andrew left Becca talking to herself and followed Mike. Andrew pushed him Mike against a locker, "You watch it. I was just standing there. One more move like that and you're off the swim team. Who do you think you are?"

But Mike just smirked. "Who do you think you are? You don't own me anymore, Drewbie-Doobie."

Andrew raised an eyebrow and let go of his shirt.

"You can't kick me off the swim team, you're not even captain anymore," Mike spat, sticking his crooked nose in Andrew's face.

Anger boiled inside Andrew. He cracked his knuckles and sized Mike up, "What're you getting at? I'm still captain."

"Not after today's practice you're not," Mike laughed. He smirked and got in Andrew's face. "It's Friday Drewbie-Doo, and it's voting time. Do you really think you stand a chance against Percy?"

"I- I've been on the team way twice as long as he has!" Andrew tried to sound confident while defending himself, but he thought he just sounded pathetic.

"Yeah?" Mike said, "but he's twice the person you are."

That was the final straw. Andrew balled up his fist and it whirled into Mike's jaw, tossing him like a ragdoll into the lockers. Andrew kicked his ribcage and took a step back. "Get up and fight Mike!" He yelled, kicking him again. Mike laid lifeless on the ground.

"Mike!" a girl cried. She ran up to him and put her hand on his shoulder, a tear running down her cheek. She looked up at Andrew, anger in her eyes.

"Get out of the way," he told her.

More tears rolled down her cheeks. She shook her head no, messing up her straight blond hair.

He shrugged, and threw another punch at Mike's face, but it never made it there. Someone grabbed his fist before contact.

* * *

Ashley:

Ashley's brother was never really a fighter. But he always had this unmistakable thing called pride. He never really thought before he spoke, he just… spoke. Like when Ashley and him were younger and their step-dad would call them worthless, Mike would always say something stupid back and get himself hurt.

Mike always said that every punch made him stronger. Every time someone hits him, they lose a little bit of sanity and give it to Mike. Mike said that it helped him understand who his attacker really is. He said that everyone who has to hit someone to get their point across is stupid. Ashley never really understood that.

So, naturally, Ashley was the queen of fixing bloody lips and bandaging up broken noses.

But now, as her brother laid lifeless against the lockers, Ashley wasn't sure that she could fix him up like usual. Tears streamed down her face.

Andrew, the senior who was the captain of the swim and football team, stood over the siblings. A large group of students were all surrounding the scene, yet no one was doing anything. Ashley wanted to yell at them to help, but she couldn't find her voice.

"Get out of the way," Andrew gritted through his teeth.

Ashley shook her head no. She couldn't just leave Mike there, defenseless and unconscious, laying against the lockers.

Andrew shrugged and threw his balled fist toward Mike's face, but suddenly it stopped.

Another hand grabbed Andrew's hand, pushing it away. Andrew stood stunned, his eyes wide with surprise. The boy who stopped the punch wiped off his dark jeans and stood up. He chucked and sized up Andrew. Although the boy was a good 5 inches shorter than Andrew, he radiated power. Suddenly Ashley felt like she should drop to her knees and beg for this boy's forgiveness, yet Ashley hadn't done anything wrong.

It seems like a lot of people felt that way. Most of the gathered students dropped to their knees.

Ashley shook her head, trying to come back to reality, when the realization hit her.

This boy was Nico.

With her knees shaking, Ashley slowly stood up. She fought the aura to bow to Nico, and put a shaky hand on his shoulder. "Nico, stop," she whispered, a tear running down her cheek.

It was then that she noticed the abnormally large… dog looking thing.

The thing stood at Nico's side, looking like it was ready to attack. The thing was huge, larger than a tank, with piercing red eyes. But for some reason, Ashley didn't back away. She had to get Nico to safely before Andrew hurt him.

"N-Nico," she stammered. "What's that?" She glared at the large dog.

Nico raised an eyebrow at her in confusion. For a second, she thought he didn't know what she was talking about. But then he looked over to the dog thing. "Mrs. O'Leary, go back to camp."

Andrew swallowed his fear and let out a weak laugh. "You gonna have your little poodle help you out?"

Ashley was taken aback. There was no way in hell that that… thing was a poodle. The giant animal disappeared in a light cloud of darkness.

Nico just chuckled at the bully. "Oh, Andrew. I don't think I'll need anyone else."

And without giving Andrew even a second to process what Nico said, he lifted a balled fist in the air and rammed it against Andrew's cheek. He tumbled to the ground unconscious.

At first, the gathered students didn't really know what to do. They looked a little disappointed because they were looking forward to a good fight. Then the realization hit that a small freshman knocked out a senior with one punch, and they erupted with cheers.

Nico ignored them and began to run away. But Ashley couldn't let him go, so she tried to follow him. But the crowd surrounded her and Mike, and when they dispersed, the once timid black haired freshman was no where in sight.

* * *

One of Ashley's least favorite things to do on the weekend was go to Mike's swim meets. Yet, almost every weekend she found herself sitting by the pool watching wet boys swim laps.

And no, she didn't do it because Mike's teammates were hot (although that was often the case), she did it because it made her mother very happy.

Ashley's mom was, in simple terms, an interesting woman. Her name was Sarah Harding and she was stunning, with lush brown hair, big blue eyes, and a wonderful body. A lot of men hit on her all the time. But after having a decent conversation with her, they walked away.

See, Mike and Ashley's father left their mother Sarah after Ashley was born. Ashley assumes that her mother never really got over it. Every other man that she brought home was always scummy and terrible.

Whenever Ashley asked about her father, Sarah always replied with, "He was stunning. The light of my life."

Never more, never less.

There was very little that brought Ashley's mother joy, and watching her only son Mike swim was one of those things.

So every Saturday Ashley and Sarah high tailed to whatever pool Mike was swimming at and watched. Today was no different.

At least, not at first.

Ashley was still shaken up from the incident at school yesterday involving Andrew, Mike, and Nico. Yet, she hadn't told anyone. After a few bandages, Mike was up and ready to take on an army.

Andrew had a concussion, but still went to the meet today. He didn't really need to go considering that he wasn't captain anymore. Ashley found that out when Mike came home from practice yesterday laughing, saying how Percy won by a landslide.

Andrew now sat with his arms crossed in aggravation on the sidelines in light jeans and his varsity sweatshirt. Ashley tried to suppress a smile.

Her brother Mike sat a couple kids away from Andrew, watching the water intently, cheering for his teammates. Most kids from the team were beside him except for Alex and Percy.

Ashley couldn't tell which lane they were in, but out of the four kids racing, the two in the lead were from NYP. Ashley could tell by the blue color of their caps.

She looked to her right and saw Percy's whole gang of friends, including Nico. She turned to her mom, "Hey Sare, can I go say hi to some friends?"

"Yeah, sure hun," she answered without looking up from the race.

Ashley made her way over to the Superheros. They were sitting at the top of the bleachers yelling their lungs out.

"COME ON, SEAWEED BRAIN!" Annabeth yelled.

Annabeth sat between Piper and Nico, Nico sitting at the end of the row. Jason sat next to Piper and held her hand. Then there was Leo who had his arm around Calypso. They were all yelling, just not quite as loudly as Annabeth.

"Is this seat taken?" Ashley asked Nico.

His dark eyes brightened up and looked at the empty seat next to him. "Erm, no. No, go ahead, all yours."

She smiled slightly, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and sat down.

Annabeth stopped yelling as Percy took his seat with his team after he won his race. Jadyn's race was up next, so he stood at the end of the pool, ready to hop in.

"So…" Nico said, "do you usually come to the swim meets?"

Ashley nodded, "Yeah, almost all of them."

"Oh, cool. Perc-"

"Hey Nico," Annabeth said to him. She nodded to the other swim team, seeming distraught.

Nico looked confused, scanning the team. Something must have caught his interest, because his eyes widened. "Tell the others."

"What should we do?" Piper asked, leaning across Annabeth's lap to whisper to Nico.

Nico shrugged. "Wait it out. If he approaches Percy, we'll jump in."

Wow, they all seemed to be really protective of each other. "Is Andrew gonna try to fight Percy again?" Ashley asked.

They waved her off, ignoring her input. Ashley's heart sank a little. She felt so out of the loop.

The bell blared and Jayden dove into the water with another student from the other team for the 600. Ashley watched to race and tried to forget the fact that Nico just ignored her.

Suddenly, Nico, Annabeth, and the other four stood up. Ashley, in utter confusion, stood as well, looking at the group of friends. They all had the same look on their face; worried, yet had it all together. They radiated power. It was similar the the other day when Ashley felt the strong need to bow to Nico and beg for his forgiveness. Each teenager had their own aura, all equally as powerful. And in all honestly, it kind of freaked Ashley out.

Ashley snapped herself back to reality. She tried to figure out what they were all looking at. Percy sat at the end of the row of kids on his swim team, next to Ashley's brother, Mike, who was talking to a coach. The coach for the other team. Percy was watching to race intently, ignoring Mike and the coach's conversation.

Nico muttered something under his breath and then turned to Ashley, "Ashley, yesterday you said that you saw Mrs. O'Leary."

"What?" she asked. That was the most random thing he could have possibly asked her. Yet, she could still see the large dog-thing in her mind. "Y-yes," she stammered, "at least, I think. You mean the really really large dog?"

"How large?" Nico rushed asking his question, like they were in a hurry.

"Uhm, like bigger than a truck, with scary red eyes."

Nico took in what she said and then turned to Annabeth. "Annabeth," he said, "Ashley, she can see through the mist."

"That what?" Ashley asked. She just wanted someone to explain what in the hell was going on.

Annabeth stepped in front of Ashley, her eyes wide. "Ash, you're mom over there," she pointed to Sarah, "is she your real mother, gave birth to you?"

Again, another really random question. "Y-yeah, of course."

"Okay, who's your dad? Do you know?"

"I, uh, I don't know, he left after I was born," she stuttered

Nico and Annabeth's eyes met, full of worry. "Ashley, is Mike your biological full brother? Same mother and father?" Nico asked.

Ashley ran a hand through her straight blond hair, "Yeah, at least as far as I know."

Nico turned to the rest of their friends. "We need to get Mike and Ashley to camp, now."

Piper took a step forward, something gleaming in her hand. It looked like… no, it couldn't be a- "We got bigger problems," she told them, nodding to the pool. Ashley looked over and saw the coach for the other team leading her brother away from the pool. He wore a red jacket and shirt, the colors of the other team. But coming out of his faded jeans was… was that a… tail?

Before I could examine it any further, they turned a corner and were completely out of sight.

"Guys!" Ashley exclaimed, "why is that guy with the tail leading my brother away from the pool?!"

Jason stepped up to where he girlfriend stood, "You can see the tail?"

Ashley widened her eyes, "The point of that sentence was to inform you that HE'S TAKING MY BROTHER!? Guys, what's going on?" I pleaded.

Annabeth looked at her friends, "Calypso, Leo, Jason, take Ashley to the car. Pull it around back. We'll meet you there. Have the car running and ready for us."

They nodded. Calypso went over to Ashley and grabbed her hand, "Come on, we gotta go."

"Bu, but I can't… what about, I can't," Ashley stammered. She looked at her mom, oblivious to her son being dragged away. Ashley watched Nico, Annabeth, and Piper run toward Mike and the other coach.

Ashley twisted her arm to get out of Calypso's grip and dashed after her brother.

"Ashley, NO!" Leo shouted.

"Ash, where are you going?" Sarah yelled after Ashley.

But she was already there. Percy stood up, dripping wet one second, completely dry the next. "I knew it," he said, taking a pen in his hands. He uncapped it and it grew into a sword. _Oh my god_, Ashley thought, _I must be going crazy_.

"Ashley!" Annabeth yelled. "What are you doing!"

"Hey, excuse me, where do you think you're going with my brother?" Ashley went right up to the coach and asked.

Mike and the coach turned around and Ashley gasped. The coach had the tip of his tail at Mike's neck as tears rolled down Mike's cheek.

"A-Ash…" Mike stammered, "you need to get out of here."

"Actually," the coach said in a thick French accent, "she'll do well as well. Come along young godling."

Suddenly the coach cried out in pain. He turned around to face the source of the attack and saw Percy grinning in amusement. "You know," Percy mused, studying the hilt of his sword, "you were kind of annoying the first time, and I really can't see you being more fun a second time around."

The coach mustered up the best laugh he could. "Perseus Jackson…"

While his back was turned, Annabeth stabbed him in the gut with what seemed like a dagger or knife. She smiled as the coach began to disintegrate, "Miss me?" she whispered.

The coach was now a pile of dust.

Mike and Ashley stood in shock. Piper clasped her hands together, "Well… good work team! Now, let's escort some demigods, shal-"

A small sniffle interrupted Piper. We all turned to see Ashley's mom, Sarah, standing at the entrance. To everyone's surprise, she let out a light laugh, ignoring the tears running down her cheeks.

"Mom-" Ashley tried to come up with anything to say.

But Sarah just smiled warmly at her. "You don't have to explain," she let out a light laugh. "Even if you tried, you wouldn't know what to say."

Annabeth looked at the women. "You know?" she asked.

She nodded and sniffled down another tear.

"Then… who's-"

"I'm not sure which one," Sarah mused, "I just know that he's one of them."

Her mother walked over and kissed Ashleys forehead and then Mike's. "I hope to see you guys soon."

And then without further explanation, she walked out of the room.

* * *

_**A/N: so that was the longest chapter I've ever done, and it was the only one where the entire thing was from other people's POV's, a lot different, but tell me what you guys thought!**_

_**Plussss, YAY new demigods! Who do you guys think is their godly parent? I wanna hear your guesses! (I foreshadowed it a little bit, but not really)**_

_**And I hate to do this, but please check out my new story! It's called The Story of Lacy Ashkin and so far, people seem to like it! I hope it turns out well(:**_

_**As usual, thanks for reading! I'll be updating in the next couple days!**_


	23. Chapter 23 - Welcome to Camp

_**A/N: ... hey? OKAY I'M SORRY I've never taken this long to update! In my defense, my friend was in town and I never see her. Plus, people in my life don't know I write this stuff, so I gotta be sneaky.**_

_**For the reviews, I got SO MUCH positive feedback, I seriously love you guys.**_

_**All of you with **_**_questions: They will all be answered! Don't worry!_**

**_All of you telling me I'm awesome: You're awesome. I love you. Stay hot._**

**_All of you with suggestions: thank you, I read them all and try to incorperate them into the story as much as I can!_**

**_A lot of you have the idea that Andrew will be a demigod, and I'm sorry to say that he won't. BUTTT he will be playing a bigger part soon, so stay tuned(:_**

**_Other than that, happy reading!_**

* * *

_Previously_

_Annabeth stepped in front of Ashley, her eyes wide. "Ash, you're mom over there," she pointed to Sarah, "is she your real mother, gave birth to you?"_

_Again, another really random question. "Y-yeah, of course."_

_"Okay, who's your dad? Do you know?"_

_"I, uh, I don't know, he left after I was born," she stuttered_

_Nico and Annabeth's eyes met, full of worry. "Ashley, is Mike your biological full brother? Same mother and father?" Nico asked._

_Ashley ran a hand through her straight blond hair, "Yeah, at least as far as I know."_

_Nico turned to the rest of their friends. "We need to get Mike and Ashley to camp, now."_

* * *

Nico:

"Well he got put together fast!" Annabeth ran a hand through her blond hair as she drove well over the speed limit back to camp.

"It was like 3 years, that's not too fast," Percy countered.

She sighed and rolled through a stop sign. "Faster than I'd like."

He shrugged, "Yeah, I'm with ya on that one."

Leo, Calypso, Piper, Jason, Nico, Mike, and Ashley were all crammed in the back of the car. The car that Chiron got them for school only sat 8 people, including the driver. Piper and Jason were crushed in the far back seat with Leo and Calypso.

Nico watched the conversation between Annabeth and Percy, but he was still confused. "What are you guys talking about?" he asked.

Percy sighed, "The Manicore, he was that coach."

From under Piper in the far back seat, Jason spoke up, "So I take it you guys have fought him before?"

"Yeah," Annabeth answered with her eyes on the road, "he kidnapped me."

Percy shuddered, "Not fun."

Ashley and Mike, who so far hadn't spoken yet, looked dazed. Nico felt bad. The Manicore was the same monster that attacked him and his sister right before they found out who they were. Now the same thing was happening to Ashley and her brother.

"I..." Ashley spoke up. She was shaking, so Nico grabbed her hand and gave her a reassuring nod. "Where are we going?" she asked him.

Nico rubbed his thumb on her palm. "Home," he answered.

* * *

The rest of the car ride was painless enough. At least, it was for most of the demigods. Nico, however, spent the time explaining things to Mike and Ashley.

"So…" Mike asked, "who are your parents?"

Nico pursed his lips, "Well, my dad is Hades and my mom was killed when I was really little," Nico explained, trying not to look at Jason considering that his dad killed Nico's mom. But that's the thing about Olympian families, they're messy.

"Oh," Ashley said, "I'm sorry."

Nico just nodded.

"Then who're are parents?" she asked.

The rest of the demigods in the car were just listening, letting Nico explain everything. It was strange, Nico had never explained this to anyone before. "You're mom is Sarah Harding, I'm guessing-"

"So she is my real mom?" she interrupted.

Nico nodded, "Yeah, that's what she said. The question is, who's your dad?"

Leo scuffed in the back, "Hey maybe you guys are my siblings!"

Calypso shook her head, "I'd say Ares, Apollo, or Dionysus."

Mike wasn't saying a word and was staring out the window. Nico's heart sank. "We'll figure it out soon, we're almost at camp," Nico said.

* * *

Chiron greeted the new demigods with open arms, which was no surprise. He asked Nico and Leo to show Ashley and Mike around camp, so they obliged. Leo made it his goal for the night to get Mike to talk, considering that he hadn't said a word since the swim meet, so he took Mike to the archery range to shoot.

Nico and Ashley walked around the cabins as Nico explained what they represented. He pointed to a large marble cabin. "And this one's Hera. It's honorary because she doesn't have kids because she's the goddess of…?"

"Marriage?" Ashley answered.

Nico smiled, "You've been paying attention."

She mustered up a forced smile. It's understandable, Nico decided, because taking all of this in is no easy task. It's hard to absorb. "So, whoever your godly parent is, that's the cabin you stay in?" she asked.

Nico nodded, "Yup."

They now stood by Zeus's cabin, facing the row of cabins for the male gods. "One of those cabin's is mine and Mike's?

"Depending on who your parent is. You may have to share it with your siblings."

"Oh," Ashley sighed, "yeah, that's right."

They walked by the row of cabins, Nico explaining each. He pointed to a cabin with barbed wire across the top. It was an angry red color, with rock music blaring from inside. Nico just laughed, "Ares, god of…?"

"War?"

Nico smirked, "I taught ya everything ya know."

They walked to the next cabin, which was the most ordinary cabin of all. Ashley frowned. "Which cabin is that?"

Suddenly the light hit the cabin just right, and it gleamed so bright, it was almost blinding. Ashley and Nico turned away until a cloud covered the sun and the brightness turned down.

Just then, Will Solace came out. He was wearing his camp t-shirt and jeans, while smiling brightly at them. He walked toward the two demigods and took his sunglasses off, revealing his bright blue eyes. He set them on his long blond hair. "Hey Nico," he beamed. He turned to Ashley and stuck out his hand, "New camper?"

She smiled and nodded. "Ashley," she answered. When she grabbed his hand to shake it, Nico smiled. A golden light beamed above Ashley's head, but when Nico looked closer, he could tell that it was a golden lyre.

Will shook her hand, "Nice to meet ya, Sis."

Ashley raised an eyebrow, so Will nodded above her head. She looked up to see the last of the lyre. Her eyes met with Nico as she knit her eyebrows.

"All hail Ashley Harding, daughter of Apollo, god of the sun, prophecies, music, and medicine."

* * *

They walked with Will back to the pavilion.

"... and we should probably send someone back to your house to grab some of your and your brother's stuff," Will explained to Ashley. He smiled brightly at her, "Then we can put it in our cabin."

Ashley smiled. She probably felt like so many of the questions she'd been asking herself all her life had finally been answered. Nico sighed, reminiscing on when he found out the story of his life. His journey had not been as easy. Of course, demigod lives had never been easy.

Will knit his eyebrows, "Where is your brother anyway?"

On cue, Leo ran into the pavilion, dragging Mike behind him. "APOLLO," Leo yelled. "THAT'S THEIR DAD."

But Will and Nico just laughed. "We know," Nico told him.

But Leo pretended like he couldn't hear Nico, and just continued to explain his story. "I showed him the archery range, and he asked if he could take a shot or two."

"I took archery lessons when I was younger," Mike explained.

"And so he took a shot," Leo continued, "and the golden lyre glowed over his head! So, APOLLO. Yeah! Okay, let's tell Chiron!"

Mike laughed and put his arm around his sister's shoulder. "Long lost dad is a god, Sis."

She smiled, "This is impossible."

He smiled back, "I know."

Nico shook his head. So that's why they're both taking this all so easily, they were in denial. Let's just give them a few days, Nico decided, and they'd be on board. Leo and Will must have decided the same thing, because they just shook their heads.

"Will, can you take your siblings with you into your cabin, show them their rooms please?" Nico asked.

Will beamed a bright smile, "With pleasure."

"I'll go send some satyr's to get their stuff at their mom's house. Then stop by the camp store, get them some camp t-shirts and anything else," Nico told them.

"Alright, I'll go tell Chiron," Leo offered.

And they went their separate ways.

* * *

Percy:

At lunch on Monday, Percy and his friends invited Ashley and Mike to sit with them at lunch. They were still pretty shaken up from the whole thing, and Percy didn't know what else to do.

Once the Harding's were claimed, Chiron wanted Percy and the other demigods to stop going to school. He recalled their conversation.

_Flashback_

_"You can't be serious?" Percy exclaimed._

_Chiron gave him sad eyes. "Percy, it was dangerous enough to have 6 powerful demigods and Calypso all at school together. Now adding 2 more demigods?"_

_"They were always demigods!"_

_"Yes, but now they know who they are. And that's always more dangerous, Percy, you know that."_

_Percy sighed. "But if they get attacked, they won't be able to defend themselves."_

_Chiron pursed his lips, but Percy continued._

_"And I know what you're gonna say, but we can't have them quit school and stay at camp. That's too much change. It's hard enough for them as it is."_

_For so long, Percy hated school. There were mornings where he thought up every excuse in the book not to go. But now, he couldn't picture _not_ going. Mike and Ashley needed him, they needed friends at school. Someone that understood what they were going through. Percy felt like he had no other choice than to stand by them._

_Chiron smiled. "Ah, Percy. You've always been a good friend." He wheeled his chair forward and backwards in anticipation. "But you know-"_

_"Give me a week. If we get too many attacks, I'll call it quits."_

_Chiron sighed and pursed his lips. "One week."_

_Flashback Over_

So here they sat at their usual lunch table, packed in with two extra people on Monday. All year, people had been getting used to Percy and his friends. Or as the students called them, "The Superhero's." So when Mike and Ashley joined them, people were giving the table weird looks.

Felix, Alex, and Burny walked past the table, eyeing it. Percy would have invited them to sit down, but there was no room. When it seemed like they were just gonna walk away from the table, Alex stopped.

"What happened Saturday, Perce?" Alex asked, his eyes full of disappointment.

Percy sighed and took his arm off of Annabeth's shoulder. He leaned forward, "Nothing man, just… family stuff."

Alex nodded toward Mike. "You took him with you."

Percy opened his mouth to explain, but Alex continued.

"Dude, you still had the 800 left. We could have won."

Percy pursed his lips. "Man, I-"

"You're…" Alex interrupted, "supposed to be our captain-"

"I know, man, I know." Percy stood up and walked over to the Alex, Felix, and Burny. "It was an emergency, and it won't happen again."

Alex sighed. "You're a great swimmer Percy… you are. But you can't just-"

"Won't happen again."

Alex looked down at his feet. "Alright."

They shook hands, but Alex still didn't look fully convinced. The boys walked away and Percy sat back down and put his arm back around his girlfriend. He must have looked pretty glum, because Annabeth knudged her shoulder against his chest. "You okay, Seaweed Brain?"

He bit his lip and nodded.

"Hey," Mike said from across the table, "I'm sorry, man. If I didn't let the Coach drag me away-"

"Manicore," Percy interrupted, "monsters, they're everywhere. And we deal with them all the time. It's not your fault."

Mike bit his tongue and took a bit of his sandwich.

Leo laughed, "You're actually eating that?"

Mike knit his eyebrows and held up his sandwich. A little bit of ketchup dripped onto the table from it. "This?"

Jason laughed, "Chiron's sandwiches are the worst, especially the ketchup ones."

Mike shrugged, "Food's food, man. Plus, this is ketchup and seaweed. Honestly, not too bad."

Ashley made a face at her sandwich. "Want mine?"

Mike nodded and grabbed it, taking another bit of his.

* * *

Andrew:

Monday was a new day.

The last month had sucked, that was for sure. But after the infamous Percy Jackson left the swim meet early on Saturday, everyone was let down.

But now it was Andrew's time to shine. After the meet, Andrew went to the doctor to get his wrist brace off. It was perfectly healed and he could swim again. He could fight again. He could take the swim team back, take the school back, take his life back. Andrew grinned at the thought. He felt invincible.

Becca threw a carrot at him. "Earth to fish boy," she taunted.

Andrew blinked and came back to life. "What?"

Jess laughed, "You look happy."

He smiled, "I am." Andrew lifted his hand and wiggled his fingers, "Brace is off, I've never been better."

Becca bit her lip and smiled at him. "Good to have ya back, Drew."

"Ya gonna get your title as swim captain back?" Jake asked.

Andrew looked across the lunch room and eyed down the Superhero table. He saw Percy with his arm around Annabeth, her blond hair swaying as she laughed. "I'm gonna get something back…"

* * *

_**A/N: not my best, I know. But i'll do better! Thank you all for putting up with me, let me **_**_know what you guys thought!_**


	24. Chapter 24 - Clubs and Kisses

_**A/N: so after getting a lot of reviews 2 chapters ago, I barely got any last chapter. It made me sad:/ I wanna know what you guys think of the story!**_

_**Anyway, enjoy the story, here's chapter 24.**_

* * *

Piper:

"Where in the Hades are they?" Piper asked while straining her neck to see the passing cars on the road in front of New York Prep High School. None of them were the blue Pilot that Chiron had gotten the demigods for school.

Calypso sat on a bench and crossed her legs, resting her chin on her palm. Piper sighed and sat down to her right, copying her position. "What time is it?" Calypso asked.

Piper shrugged. "How'm I supposed to know?"

Calypso sighed.

Piper sighed.

A cold hand rested on Piper's shoulder. Without thinking, she grabbed the person's wrist and flipped them onto the ground in front of her. The boy landed with a grunt, his backpack laying at his side.

"Percy!" Piper shrieked, standing up. "What- why- what are you doing?"

Percy mustered up the best chuckle he could. "Settle down, Pipes. Just trying to be friendly."

Piper took a deep breath and closed her eyes, pressing her palm to her forehead. "You scared the nymph outta me."

"Nymph?"

Piper and Calypso turned around to see Mike, shaking from the cold water dripping down his leg. He had a towel hanging off his shoulders. The boys had obviously just gotten out of swim practice.

"Oh, uhm. Yeah," Calypso explained, "nature goddesses."

Mike raised an eyebrow, looking for more of an explanation. But he shook his head, giving up, and sat down next to where Piper had previously sat.

Calypso offered her hand to Percy and helped him up. He jumped up and shook his wet hair. Calypso tried to block the water with her hands, squinting her eyes. "You're like a dog. Dry yourself, Clifford."

He smirked and shrugged, and after a second, he was dry.

Piper shook her head and sat down. "I will never get tired of that."

Mike sat, wide eyed. "How'd… What?"

Percy chuckled and pointed to himself. "Son of Poseidon, god of the sea?"

Mike just stared back at him.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Means I can control water and the ocean and tides and what not."

"Thus why he's a freaky good swimmer," Piper explained.

"Hey," Percy defended himself. "I don't use my powers when I'm with the swim team."

Calypso rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Just then, a blue Pilot pulled up. The window rolled down to reveal Leo, in all his glory, behind the wheel. He titled his sunglasses down and smiled. "All aboard the Leo express!"

"My gods, Leo." Calypso sighed while opening the front door. "Who let you drive?" Mike, Piper, and Percy climbed into the back seat.

Leo leaned over and kissed his girlfriend's cheek. "That would be Annabeth."

Piper put on her seat belt and tossed her hair out of her face. "Don't you have your mechanic club?"

Leo met her eyes in the rear window and beamed her a smile. "Only on Thursdays."

"Leo," Calypso laughed, "it is Thursday."

Leo frowned and then changed the subject. "Why does the gardening club need to meet twice a week? Tuesdays and Thursdays, that's just too much."

Calypso sighed and rubbed her temples in aggravation. "They're plants, grease monkey, they need to be catered too."

Leo made a face and snorted, "Pft, I need to be catered."

"Yeah?" Calypso taunted.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay." She flicked his forehead.

"Guys," Percy said. "Be civil. At least until we get back to camp."

And they tried, but it's Leo and Calypso. They bickered and fought. Eyes were rolled and faces got palmed, but they always kissed each other goodnight. Piper smiled at their relationship. She spent the rest of the car ride feeling giddy and excited to get back to camp to see her boyfriend after his soccer game.

* * *

Jason:

Jason sat in his bunk and pressed a bag of ice against his ankle. He winced at the cold against his skin. Will Solace chuckled. "What?" he taunted. "Son of the sky can't handle a little cold?"

Jason punched Will's shoulder and winced again. "Shut it, fortune teller, and give me more ambrosia."

Will shook his head and leaned back in the couch next to Jason's bunk. "Do you want your insides to burn up and disintegrate? Trust me, I'm doing you a favor."

Jason groaned and leaned back in his bed. The bunk was brand new and smelled like lavender. Piper had Annabeth design and redecorate the Zeus cabin once Jason moved in after the Giant War. It had a white frame, white sheets, a white comforter with gold pattern that resembled the wind, and gray pillows that reminded Jason of clouds.

Jason looked up to see Will studying Jason's cabin. "Nice place ya got here," Will stated.

Jason mustered up a smile trying to ignore the pain in his ankle. "Thanks man. Piper and Annabeth did it."

He studied his room. There were shelves lining the cabin. Some were filled with Greek and Roman books. Some modern, some not; but they were all organized. The Odyssey by Homer was with other novels on one shelf. Classic greek mythology texts were on another, while another shelf had more modern takes on mythology. Another couple shelf were Roman mythology books. Or at least, what mortals thought was mythology.

The other shelves had pictures. But one caught Jason's attention, it was of Piper, Jason, and Leo right before they left for their first quest to save Hera. Each of them were smiling, but there was something else in those three pairs of eyes. Fear? Angst? Excitement?

His train of thought of put on hold by a chuckle from the couch next to his bed. "Lost in lala land, Grace?"

A small smile crept on Jason's face. "Yeah, just thinking."

"Lemme guess," Will said, lifting a finger in the air like he had a great thought, "the classic 'what if?' thought?"

Jason shrugged slightly. "More or less. It's more like a, what if I wasn't lucky enough to meet all of you?"

Will put his hand over his heart and leaned back in the couch. "Grace, you charmer!"

Jason laughed. "No, really. I just-"

"Don't get all sappy on me. Save that for your girlfriend," Will interrupted.

On cue, there was a knock at the door. It inched open and Piper stuck her head in the door. Her ever-changing eyes glistened with curiosity and worry. There was a feather tied in her chocolate brown hair that hung at her shoulders.

When she saw her boyfriend laying on the bed, her eyes brightened. Then sulked with worry when she saw his ankle.

She ran in and sat down on his bed by his foot. "Sparky, what the hell did you do?" she asked.

He smiled and rubbed her shoulder. "Calm down Pipes, it's from soccer."

She stared at his ankle for another minute before letting out a soft laugh. "You defeat monsters and go to war, then come home unscratched. But you go to a high school soccer practice and come home with a broken ankle?"

"In my defence," he smirked, "it was a game, not a practice."

She shook her head. "You're unbelievable."

Jason leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers. "And you're beautiful." He pressed his lips against hers softly. Piper leaned into the kiss more eagerly.

"Ew, ew ew." Jason pulled away to see Will standing up and covering his eyes. "I'm leaving, you guys are gross."

Jason laughed and pulled his girlfriend into his arms. "Oh come on Will," he taunted, "Like I've never seen you make out with Nyssa."

"Ugh," he groaned with his hands still over his eyes. He ran into the wall while trying to find the door. "That's different. That's making out, not all this lovey dovey talk."

"Oh Jason!" Piper gasped, throwing her arms around his neck. "I love you so much! Don't ever leave me!" She coated his neck and face with kisses.

"Your mom would be so proud," Will said sarcastically, walking out the door that he finally found.

When the door shut, Piper pressed her cheek to Jason's chest and snuggled into him. He kissed the top of her head and sighed.

"Did you guys at least win?" Piper asked.

Jason nodded. "Yup, 5 to 4."

She nuzzled in closer. "Tell me about the game, Superman."

He let out a light chuckle and took a deep breath. "Well, Anthony's out sick, so our defense sucked. Luckily, our offense was kicking ass, so we scored 5. Then, in the last 5 minutes, number 8 took out our goalie so coach was like, 'Grace, you're in!'"

Piper looked up at her boyfriends face. "You play goalie?"

He shook his head. "Nope. So then I went in, and one of their players was on a breakaway toward me. He shot the ball and I didn't want to use my control of the wind to move it, so I jumped and dived and…"

He looked down at his ankle.

Piper laughed. "You're an idiot."

He smiled. "We won."

Piper leaned up and kissed Jason's nose. "Still an idiot."

Jason reached up and cupped her face lightly. She let out a small breath in anticipation and leaned into her boyfriend. They lips moved together. Piper reached down and tugged at the bottom of her boyfriends shirt. He smiled against her lips and lifted his shirt over his head.

She pressed her hand against his toned chest, her other hand gripping his hair. Jason ran his hands down her back, which sent tingles down her spine, and gripped her shirt slightly. She lifted her top over her head. He pulled his lips away from hers and studied her body.

She giggled. "My lips are up here," she said, lifting his chin with a finger.

Jason chuckled and lightly held her waist. "I can't help it." He pecked her lips. "You're beautiful."

The door flew open. "Thank you Jason," Leo grinned. "I know I am!"

Piper yelped and jumped off the bed. She scrambled to find her shirt. "Leo!" she yelled.

Jason gasped and put his hand on his chest. "Holy Hera, Leo. What the Hades?"

Leo covered his eyes with one of his hands, casually scratching his neck with the other. "Why me?" he asked. "Why do I always walk in at the wrong time?"

Jason just leaned back in his bed and casually put his hands behind his head. When he saw that Piper had successfully put on a shirt, he threw a pillow at Leo. "Alright, all clear."

Leo grinned and removed his hand from his face. He ran and jumped on the couch by Jason's bed. Piper rolled her eyes and sat cross-legged on the ground. She ran her hand through her beautiful brown hair. Jason smiled at how stunning she looked when she was aggravated.

"Maybe you always walk in on people," Piper groaned, "because you never knock!"

Leo made himself comfortable on the couch and shot her a wicked grin. "Knocking is for the weak."

Jason chuckled from his bed. "What do you want Leo?"

"For you to put a shirt on, Superman," he answered.

Jason glanced down at his muscular stomach and rolled his eyes. "You should be thanking me for not wearing a shirt, Leo. I-"

"Jason," Piper interrupted, her eyes wide and annoyed. "You're off topic."

"Oh yeah." He shook his head. "Leo, you came in here for a reason, what's up?"

Leo frowned, trying to remember. "Oh yeah!" His face brightened as he shot out of the couch. He pointed to Piper, "Mitch's looking for you. Something about Drew's perfume."

Piper sighed and stood up. She walked over and kissed her boyfriends cheek. "See ya soon, I gotta go air out my damn cabin again."

She began walking out of the room when Leo fist pumped the air. "Go get 'um, Beauty Queen!"

"Shut up, Leo." She left and closed the door.

Leo frowned. "Isn't she just a bundle of doves?"

Jason laughed. "Well you did kind of just interrupt."

"Excuse you," Leo gasped, "it was your kissing that was interrupting my interrupting, thank you very much."

Jason shook his head. "You're not welcome."

Leo started walking toward the door. "So snarky, Sparky."

"Go build something," Jason taunted.

"Maybe I will!" Leo said. He left, closing the door behind him.

Jason sighed and scratched his head. He looked around for his shirt, but instead, he found Piper's laying on the ground next to his bed. He scrunched his eyebrows together. She must have left wearing his shirt.

He smiled. She must be having a great time explaining that to her cabin. He could already hear their comments teasing her.

Jason looked at the clock that sat on his night stand. 6:14 at night. He sighed and stood up, walking to his closet. He pulled out another camp t-shirt and began to get ready for dinner at 6:30.

* * *

_**A/N: Yay! So a scene with Calypso, Piper, Percy, and Alex, a little bit of Caleo, and a lot of Jasper!**_

_**QUESTION TIME:**_

_**Next chapter, do you guys want Percabeth fluff or Andrew dealing with Percabeth?**_

_**Lemme know!**_

_**Leave me a little review (they make me happy) and have a good day, happy reading(:**_


	25. Chapter 25 - He Needs it More

**_A/N: This chapter sucks, don't yell at me._**

* * *

Ashley:

Ashley was ready for answers. No, not about being a demigod. She totally got that. Even though it was weird, she still had a grasp on that whole idea.

What she didn't understand was why Nico kept disregarding her.

And no, she wasn't just batting her eyelashes and crossing her fingers. This was the 21st century! Feminism! If she liked a guy, she could totally make the first move. The only problem was, she had made the first move, the second move, the third move…

It was tiring.

So during dinner, she ignored Will's story about drakons and hatched a plan. Well, it was more like a one step movement in the right direction.

When dinner ended, she scanned the pavilion for the freshman at the Hades table; only the table was empty. She caught a glimpse of someone running toward the forest.

"Nico!" she called out. But the boy didn't turn.

She followed. After about 50 feet into the forest, she was surrounded by nature and the sound of distant monsters. But someone's voice caught her attention. She hid behind a tree and held her breath.

"... fine," a boys voice said. It sounded like Nico.

"No, you're not," said another guys voice. It was either Jason or Percy.

Nico sighed, but didn't answer.

"Look," Jason said. Yup, it was definitely Jason. "You need to stop beating yourself up-"

"It's not like I have a choice!" Nico snapped. Ashley had to remember that she was hidden so she wouldn't jump backwards. That was very un-Nico, he never raised his voice. "There's no one to blame but myself!"

But instead of backing down and letting him be angry, Jason answered back with just as much force. "That's the thing Nico, you're always looking for someone to blame. Think of this: maybe there is no one to blame! Maybe there's nothing wrong with you."

"Then why can't I…" Nico's voice faltered and he took a deep breath. Jason sighed loudly.

"There's nothing wrong with you," Jason repeated smoothly.

Ashley heard Jason stood up and begin to walk towards her. Oh crap, of crap. She scooted to the side of the tree so Jason could pass without him (and hopefully Nico) seeing her.

When Jason was far enough away, she heard Nico begin to cry. Her heart sank. Before she could stop herself, she spoke up. "Nico?"

The son of Hades held his breath and then slowly turned around. "Holy Hades," Nico whispered and wiped his cheek.

Ashley suddenly felt flustered. She ran a hand through her long hair, pushed her glasses into place, and tapped her heels together. "I'm sorry, I'll… I'll go," she whispered.

"No," Nico sighed loudly. Ashley pursed her lips in anticipation. He pat the log next to him. "You can sit down, you know."

She gave him a weak smile and sat down.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow. "I might ask you the same question."

He mustered up a weak laugh and wiped the corner of his eyes. "It's not me I'm worried about."

Her chest lifted. Gods, he cared about her, didn't he? "I'm fine."

He nodded with pursed lips sarcastically. "Uh huh, you just found out that the Greek gods are real and your dad is one of them."

She shrugged, trying to mask her racing heart. "All in a days work, right?"

He smiled and playfully knudged his shoulder against hers. "For brave hero's like us? Tartarus yeah."

She laughed and nodded. "So…" she fumbled, trying to chose her words carefully. "If we're so brave, what has you down?"

Nico's face drooped and she suddenly regretted asking.

"I…" he stuttered. "I gotta go."

He stood up. He didn't make eye contact. And before she could blink, he was gone.

* * *

Percy:

Percy had made up his mind.

"Alright, alright. Circle up, guys," Coach called to the swim team. "Everyone out of the pool!"

One by one, muscular guys pulled themselves out of the pool and grabbed towels to dry themselves off. Percy sighed. Towel drying was getting really annoying. Percy noticed Mike watching him, so Percy walked over to him. "Yes," he said, rubbing a towel against his hair. "I use a towel."

"But why?" Mike asked.

Percy lifted a brow. "I can't just magically dry myself, people would notice."

"Oh," Mike said simply, "duh."

They circled up around Coach and listened in. "Alright guys, so first things first. You guys did really well on Saturday, even though we lost." His eyes innocently drifted to Percy. Percy could feel many pairs of eyes on him.

"Yeah, about that Coach…" Percy began.

"No, it's fine. No one blames you Percy," Coach said.

"I blame me," Percy said. "Look, guys, as a captain, it wasn't cool of me to just leave in the middle of a meet."

"You had a rea-"

"No matter what the reason could be," Percy cut off Mike. "A captain should be someone who puts their heart and soul into this team. Lives and breathes for this team." Percy shrugged. "But honestly that's not me."

Everyone seemed taken back by his words. Even Percy was taken back by his words. But he continued anyway.

"I mean, don't get me wrong," he defended himself, "I love being on this team with you guys. I just…" he fumbled for the right words, "have a lot going on at home. I respect you guys enough to step down from my post as captain."

Percy could see Andrew standing in the back, smiling wickedly. There was a silence between the students for a moment before Tyler, a small sophomore in the back, broke it. "But Percy, it was just one meet."

"Yeah, don't beat yourself up," Alex added.

Percy forced a smile. "Guys it's not just about that, but thanks."

There was another silence. Percy could hear water drip from the wet swimmers. Coach took a deep breath. "Are you sure about this, Percy?"

Percy pursed his lips and nodded. "Yeah, I am."

Coach clapped his hands together. "Okay guys. Hit the showers. Good practice. Tomorrow we'll have a re-vote for captain, so think about who you're gonna vote for."

The team dismembered and walked back to the locker room in small groups. Mike walked with Percy. "So," Percy asked, "Have you told Burny and Felix yet?"

Mike shook his head glumly. "No. What am I supposed to say? 'Oh, by the way, my dad isn't actually an absent drunk, he's an absent god'? I mean seriously, Percy."

Percy chuckled. "Okay you win." We entered the locker room and ran clean water through our hair. We walked to our lockers and started drying off. "So," Percy said. "He hasn't asked questions?"

Mike turned his shirt around and pulled it over his head. "Yeah," he sighed, "they were worried sick over the weekend, but when I showed up to school on Monday, they felt better."

Percy could tell that there was still something that Mike was holding back. "But…?" Percy pressed.

Mike shrugged and shimmied into his jeans. "They're just questioning the hell outta me, Percy. I'm running out of lies to tell them."

Percy thought for a moment. Maybe they should take Chiron's advice and stay at camp full time, not go to school. Maybe this was all too much and Mike and Ashley couldn't do a double life. But it didn't feel right, having them leave their friends at school.

Percy tried to shake the thoughts out of his head. They got dressed in silence and went to the front of the school to wait for Annabeth to pick them up.

* * *

Annabeth:

Annabeth decided that Percy needed a roundhouse kick in the head. Who better to deliver that than his loving girlfriend, right?

He layed on her bed with his hands behind his head grinning like a jackass.

"It's not funny!" Annabeth yelled.

He immediately hardened his expression. They had a 5 second stare down before Percy flashed a lopsided smile. Annabeth gave in and started cracking up.

Annabeth flopped down onto her bed next to her boyfriend. He enveloped her in his arms. He nuzzled his face into her neck and mumbled something inaudible. Annabeth laughed. "What?" she asked.

He mumbled again, louder, but Annabeth still couldn't understand him.

A smile crept on her lips. "Percy," she laughed, "I can't understand you when you're talking to my hair."

He sighed into her neck and pulled away. "You smell nice."

Annabeth laughed and turned around, straddling him and pressing their foreheads together. "Oh Percy," she swooned sarcastically, "you have such a way with words."

He gave her a cocky grin. "A lot of people say that."

She pecked his lips, then raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, I bet they say a lot of things.

Percy rolled his eyes.

They laid there smirking at each other for a moment, before anger infused into her expression. "Oh gods…" Percy said.

Annabeth tightened her face and backed off of him. "And you tried to distract me!" She got off the bed and crossed the room, holding her head. She paced back and forth.

He let out a light chuckle. "Forget what you were made about?"

She held up her finger. Hold on.

He laughed again.

She stopped pacing because she (finally) remembered why she was mad. "That's it!" She walked over to him and began lightly smacking his shoulders. "You. Stepped. Down. As. Captain?!" She hit him between every word.

Annabeth could tell that he was holding back laughter, which just made her angrier. He tried to grab her wrists to calm her down. "Annabeth! I don't need to be captain, let Andrew have it."

"Why?!" She was baffled. How could he just roll over and let that asswipe have the team back?

Percy casually shrugged. "He needs it more than me." He let out a small laugh. "That team, that school, that's all he has."

Her heart softened. Annabeth jumped into her boyfriends arms. "You're such a seaweed brain, you know that?

He pressed his soft lips against his. "I love you too."

* * *

_**A/N: So I know I said I was gonna do a lot of Percabeth with Andrew, but I had to put some Ashley and Nico in their.**_

_**Sucky chapter I know.**_

_**Forgive me children.**_


	26. Chapter 26 - Just a Funny Feeling

_**A/N: Yay an update! By the way guys, I posted With a Flower In Her Hair, the story about Percy on the cruise ship. That's why this took an extra day**__** I**__**!**_

_**NyssaFire: OH MY GODS, i just noticed that. Hahaha I went back and changed it! Thank you**_

_**everyone who said stuff about Ashley and Nico: yes, they will only be friends.**_

_**everyone who said stuff about Andrew and Percabeth: Andrew won't do anything too risky while trying to break up Percabeth. He's just gonna try to make percy look stupid, and then Percy's gonna do something to save his sorry ass... but that's for next chapter(:**_

_**everyone else: I love you. I'm obsessed with you. I hope eat as many chips and cookies as you want without getting fat, cause god knows that that hasn't happened to me yet.**_

_**Anyway, read away!**_

* * *

Andrew (Wednesday):

Andrew thought his week couldn't get much better.

But as he walked into his Geometry class second period, he figured out that he was wrong. This week just got so much better.

"Shouldn't you go sit with your Jockstraps?" Annabeth glared at him as Andrew sat down across from her in Percy's usual seat. The top part of Annabeth's hair was pinned back while the rest of it fell in ringlets on her shoulders. Her grey eyes looked steamy and angry.

Andrew swallowed down whatever intimidation he felt and took his notebook and pencil out of his backpack. "I'm off duty," he said with a smile.

She squinted her grey eyes at him and put more led in her mechanical pencil. "You can't just sit here."

Andrew raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Why not? It's not assigned seating, and no one's sitting here today."

She bit her lip, aggravated that she couldn't argue. Andrew knew he won. "Fine," Annabeth said through her teeth. "Just don't talk to me."

"Fine," Andrew said lightly. She said nothing about looking at her though.

Mr. Headlinger began his lesson, drawing a bunch of shapes on the board. Andrew watched as Annabeth took perfect notes. Not only taking down everything the teacher wrote, but also everything he said. She did it so easily, like it came natural to her.

For as many notes as she was taking, she seemed really distracted. Andrew decided to take his first swing. He leaned in towards her to where he could smell the apple in her hair and the mint off her gum. "Trouble in paradise?"

She gritted her teeth and kept her eyes on the board. "Nope."

"Then where's Mr. King?" Andrew asked.

She wrote down the answer to one of the practice problems. "He's helping out some friends."

"Hm," Andrew tried his best to sound interested. "What with?"

"You know," Annabeth slammed her pencil down and glared at Andrew, "I shouldn't have to justify anything to you."

Andrew leaned back in his chair casually and shrugged. "As captain of his swim team, I'm just concerned about a fellow teammate. We have practice after school, you know."

Anger flashed into her eyes but was quickly replaced with annoyance. "He'll be back by next period, don't worry about your precious team."

Andrew smiled at her annoyed glares. "Oh, I wasn't. We'll do fine with or without him."

She gritted her teeth and turned back to her notes, obviously done with him. Andrew was fine with that, he did what he sat there to do. Make an impression. Give it a week, maybe two, and Annabeth would be all over him.

* * *

"And you really expect that to work?" Brandon asked me and then ate another chip.

Andrew nodded with a smirk. "It's not much of a mischievous plan, I mean, I'm just gonna flirt with her and try to get with her."

Jess, who was sitting across from Andrew at the lunch table, raised an eyebrow. "You say it like it's so easy, what are you gonna do about Percy?"

"What?" Andrew scuffed. "That little prick? I don't need to do anything about him, he's a loser."

Becca stopped playing with her hair and frowned at me. "Not to her. Haven't you seen her science binder? It's full of pictures of them, she's crazy about him."

Andrew pursed his lips. "Well… I'll do something to him. Make her see that she's a retard."

Jake chuckled a bit and took a bit of his sandwich. "How do you intend to do that?" he said with his mouth full.

"Dude, swallow," Andrew told him. "And I don't know, but I'll figure it out."

Becca opened her mouth to say something but then decided against it and began picking the split ends of her hair again.

"What, Beck?" Andrew asked.

She shrugged and kept her eyes on her hair. "I just don't think it'll work, but do whatever you want."

Why couldn't Becca just be excited for this? Andrew thought she hated that group. But he didn't feel like arguing, so he just ate the rest of Brandon's chips and slugged through his day.

* * *

Annabeth:

"You sure?" Piper asked her from behind the wheel of the Pilot.

Annabeth shouldered her backpack and tossed her blond hair out of her face. "Yeah. Just pick us up at the usual time."

Jason bit his lip. He was sitting in the front seat, his and Piper's backpacks in his lap. "You sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Piper called, a worried look on her face, "we could go with you." She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel.

Annabeth handed Jason her backpack and he set it on his lap. Then she took a step backwards. "No, it's fine."

They could tell she was about to walk away, so Jason called out, "Alright, just IM us if something happens."

"Okay," Annabeth said walking away. She knew that Andrew was a pussy and wouldn't actually do anything to Percy, but the thought weighed down in her chest. So around lunch time today, she decided that she was going to Percy's swim practice just to be sure.

The door to the pool room was cropped open, so Annabeth peeked her head in. The coach was pacing the side of the pool while the team was doing warm up laps. She decided it was a good time to sneak in, considering no one was looking.

Not like she wasn't allowed to watch practice, she was. She just didn't want to draw attention to herself.

Annabeth took her seat on one of the top, far back seats in the bleachers.

The boys finished their warm ups and leaned against the side of the pool to listen for further instructions from Coach. She saw that Mike was in the closest lane to her and Percy was next to him. Next to Percy was Andrew.

Annabeth frowned. Usually Alex is on the other side of Percy, why would Andrew swim there today?

She watched tentatively, her chest booming with worry. She couse sense that something was wrong, but nothing about the practice so far seemed out of place. Except for Andrew, of course, but what real harm could Andrew do?

"Alright team, every four lanes will do different strokes now. 400 each, then we'll switch strokes," Coach told them. He looked toward Percy. "Mike, Percy, Andrew, Kevin, you four will start with the butterfly…" he assigned the other groups their stroke and blew his whistle.

The team took off. In their group of four, Percy and Andrew were both first, Andrew a little further ahead. Annabeth watched Andrew. He kept slightly turning his head to look at Percy, but Percy didn't seem to notice.

It all happened so fast, Annabeth wasn't sure if what she'd seen was real. One moment, Percy was swimming normally. The next moment, he was underwater completely.

Annabeth stood up, trying to see what was happening. She wasn't so worried about Percy because he can breathe underwater, obviously. But still, it was strange behavior.

Then Percy emerged from the water. In under 1 second, Percy went from the center of the pool to his beginning side. But he didn't swim, he propelled himself.

Annabeth widened his eyes. Did he seriously just do that? Someone could have seen. That was so obviously not normal for mortals. The water lifted Percy out of the water and sat him on the side on the edge of the pool. He held onto his ankle in fury and stared at Andrew.

A couple of Percy's team mates were done with their laps and saw the entire thing. One got out of the pool and stared at Percy. "How…?"

Percy's eyes widened, realizing what he just did. Then he quickly changed his face back to a relaxed and slightly confused look. "How, what?" Percy asked.

"Yeah man," a kid said to the first one, "I saw it too."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Did I miss something?"

Mike finished his laps and got out of the pool when he saw Percy sitting there holding his ankle. "Dude, what happened?"

Percy's eyes flickered from Mike to Andrew, who was still in the water and leaning against the side of the pool. Percy shook his head. "I don't know, but I think I broke my ankle.

Mike's face contorted into confusion. He seemed to process that there was no way Percy broke his ankle just swimming in the pool, the water was where Percy was the most strong.

Then Percy noticed Annabeth. They had a silent conversation.

Me: _Are you okay?_

Percy: _I need ambrosia._

* * *

Percy:

"Okay, so explain what happened," Annabeth asked. Percy was holding her in his arms on his bed.

"Yeah, that was weird," Mike said. He was sitting by the fountain in Percy's cabin. "Was it Andrew?"

Percy nodded. Piper was digging in her bag looking for some more ambrosia when she yelled, "Ah hah!" She held up a little brownie. "Found it." She walked over and handed it to Percy.

It tasted like his mom's famous blue chocolate chip cookies, warm and gooey. Suddenly, Percy's anger subsided. He took a deep breath. "We were swimming and Andrew kicked me really hard in the ankle. I just don't get that guy, I let him be captain again and he's still a piece of shit."

"Just quit the team," Piper suggested.

Percy shook his head. "I can't do that, they need me."

"Yeah, we really need him," Mike agreed, nodding his head. Then he seemed to remember something and he smacked his palm against his forehead. "Shit Perce, you're not gonna be able to swim this weekend, are you?"

Everyone looked at Piper. She raised a brow. "Why are you looking at me?"

"Because you and Will just healed Jason's broken ankle like a week ago," Annabeth told her.

"Okay," Piper agreed and sat on the edge of Percy's bed. "Well, I think we can give him another small piece of ambrosia in the morning and maybe Friday morning too. But then, Percy, you should be fine."

Mike seemed very happy.

Annabeth seemed worried.

Percy was just annoyed.

"Percy," Annabeth said, "you don't have to swim with him. You can just quit. It doesn't matter."

Percy sighed and saw that Mike was hanging on everyone's words. This team meant a lot to Mike. Percy just couldn't let him down. "No," he told his girlfriend, "I'm swimming saturday."

* * *

(3rd Person POV, Saturday)

"Is this really necessary?" Nico groaned. He leaned his head up against the left seat in the back of the car.

"Does 'begin a supportive friend' mean anything to you?" Annabeth said lightly from the drivers seat.

"Nope," Nico popped the 'p.'

From the right seat next to him, Ashley let out a light laugh.

"I agree with Death Breath on this one," Leo said from in front of Nico. He had his arm around Calypso while she slept soundly on his chest. "It's too early for this."

"Don't forget that it's also far away," Nico added.

Annabeth huffed, annoyed. "Doesn't matter cause we're over half way there." At the same time, everyone (who was awake) in the car groaned. "Oh come on guys, swim meets aren't even that long!"

Calypso seemed to wake up from Leo's chest. She yawned and slightly stretched. "Are we there yet?"

Everyone groaned.

"Is that a no?" Calypso asked timidly.

Leo kissed the top of her head. "You're cute when you're confused."

She lightly hit his shoulder. "Just answer the question, fireboy."

"Only like 20 minutes left now," Leo said.

Ashley was cleaning her glasses when she asked, "What time does the meet start again?"

"8, but we'll be there at 7," Annabeth informed them.

More groaning.

"Oh shut up, it was either follow the school bus or get lost on the way."

"I wouldn't mind getting lost if that means that I won't have to sit through another swim meet," Leo grumbled. "Why don't Piper and Jason have to go?"

Annabeth drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and sighed. "I don't know, because they don't. But we're supporting Mike and Percy, okay? Okay!"

Everyone seemed to understand that fighting her wasn't an option. By the time they got there, parked the car, and found the pool, the swim team was already warming up. They took their seat farthest away on the bleachers from any other parents and sat patiently.

Annabeth's nerves were getting the best of her as she watched Percy swim smoothly in the water. Why was this so nerve wracking? She had the same feeling that she had a couple days prior at his practice. She wanted to throw up and take on an army at the same time.

Ashley couldn't stop watching Nico. They hadn't really talked since that night in the forest, but Ashley knew that he was slowly deteriorating. Something was holding him back.

Nico was avoiding Ashley for obvious reasons. He couldn't just admit it, he couldn't he couldn't.

Leo wanted desperately to be alone with Calypso. They hadn't had much time alone together for a week or two, and he was running on memories.

Calypso was trying not to fall asleep in Leo's arms again, but she had been up all night last night IM-ing Reyna.

Percy was just trying to focus on every stroke.

All six of them were generally unprepared.

* * *

_**A/N: Shitty cliffhanger, don't shoot. Leave me a review!**_


	27. Chapter 27 - Sweat, Rain, and Tears

_**A/N: whoa so I think I just planned out the rest of this story! I don't know how many more chapters it'll be yet, but I'll let you know when I know!**_

_**kingofnerdssince2013: I am not a Leyna shipper, haha sorry. Maybe I'll write a one shot of them, but idk how good it'll be.**_

_**0oWiseGirlo0: awww haha thank you!**_

_**caleoforever: I don't really have a set updating schedule. I try to post every 3 days. Sometimes it's 2, sometimes it's 4. but I'm also writing to other stories, so please be patient!**_

_**Thanks for putting up with me you guys! and I know, this chapter asks more questions then it answers, but all in due time, my little pawns.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Percy:

It just _had_ to be a drakon.

Percy and his teammates loaded onto the charter bus. The students usually weren't excited about the hour drive back to New York Prep High School from New Jersey, but today their spirits were high. Percy took his seat in the back of the bus and Alex sat down next to him.

Alex hit Percy's back and smiled. "I can't believe you almost didn't try out, man. We would have drowned without you today!"

Percy forced a smile and shrugged. "What do you mean? You killed it with the 200 backstroke."

Alex shrugged modestly, but his eyes showed just how excited he was. Alex's bushy brown hair was still drying, it hung slightly over his blue eyes. Like Alex, all of the swimmers that loaded onto the bus were all in high spirits; buzzing about their recent competition.

Everyone had a smile on their face, even Percy. Although, Percy was uncomfortable having to fully air dry. He thought that maybe in 20 minutes or so, he could dry himself and no one would notice. But he decided against it because he didn't think it was worth the risk.

But honestly, it wouldn't have mattered.

Mike took the seat behind Alex and Percy, a wide grin spread across his face. He leaned forward and put his hands around the swimmers in front of him. "Fina-fucking-ly!" he said.

Percy and Alex turned around laughing. "I know man," Alex agreed with a chuckle, "I'm so happy that we beat those assholes. Ever since freshman year, I've wanted to drown those douche dicks!"

With interested eyes fluttering to Alex and then Mike, Percy asked, "What happened freshman year?"

The swimmers that had already taken their seats and that were in earshot all laughed. "Freshman year, though!" Another senior yelled from one of the middle seats.

"I remember that meet! Shit was crazy!" Ryan, another senior, said.

Their conversation seemed to turn from a three person one, to a whole bus discussion. "Can someone tell me what happened?" Percy asked eagerly.

"I can!" Coach Boone was the last one on the bus, so the doors shut behind him. The swimmers all sat down and turned their attention to Coach. Boone stood up at the front by the bus driver, who looked like he couldn't wait to get this drive over with, and beamed widely at the swimmers. "They're dicks, and we kicked their asses!"

All the guys cheered and laughed, a couple fist pumps came from the crowd.

Boone quieted the rowdy group down and grinned. "Well, good meet guys! Who's up for pizza when we get back?" Another set of cheers. "Alright, let's go!" And with that, the coach sat down by the driver and the engine roared to life.

Inside the bus, there were smiles and cheers and high spirits. But that didn't stop the rain from pouring down onto the street and roof of the bus.

* * *

Annabeth:

Following the bus with the Pilot was a hard job with this weather. The windshield wipers brushed the glass furiously, yet Annabeth still couldn't really see. The heater in the car was on full blast, yet Annabeth still shivered.

In the rear view mirror, she could see that Calypso and Leo were cuddled up in the seat behind her. Leo leaned against the door of the car while Calypso slept soundlessly against his chest. Leo protectively pet her hair and hugged her close to himself.

Annabeth's stomach did a little jump. Leo had changed so much ever since Calypso came back into his life. But not a bad change. It was like he was more of himself than he was before. More… content and secure.

Annabeth's eyes fluttered to the far back seat where Ashley's cheek rested against Nico's shoulder as her breath slowed until asleep.

Could it be that Nico finally landed himself a girl? Annabeth smiled at that thought.

This was about the time that the bus hit it's breaks and grinded against the side of the empty freeway until it came to a stop. Annabeth slammed on her breaks and tried to swerved her car around the bus.

The rest of the demigods in the car woke with a start. They pressed their noses up to the windows. "Holy Hera…" Nico mumbled.

This was about the time that Annabeth saw the drakon. 25 feet of drakon circled both the bus and the car angrily. With every breath, a yellow mist lightly spewed from it's nose.

"Eww," Leo complained, "drakon boogies."

Annabeth caught Calypso roll her eyes and lightly smack Leo on the shoulder. "No, you dill, that's acidic venom."

"That… thing can do that?" Ashley asked with wide eyes.

Nico nodded slowly. "Yeah, some."

"Well," Annabeth sighed. "Everyone have their weapons?"

"It wouldn't be a friendly, fun Saturday outing without deadly weapons and killer monsters, would it?" Leo asked, sarcastically.

Annabeth watched as the drakon opened it's mouth and spewed venom at the roof of the bus. "Okay, we should kill it now," she suggested.

"Nico, Ashley, Calypso, go help the mortals. Get them to safety," Leo ordered and opened his car door.

Calypso took her knife and jumped out of the car. "Like Hades, I am. I'm gonna go kill that thing."

And she charged.

* * *

Percy:

"What is that thing!" Mike yelled over the sound of screaming swimmers and pounding rain.

Percy wasn't quite sure what his teammates saw, but he didn't stick around to find out. He jumped over Alex and ran out of the bus with Mike following. "Drakon," Percy told him.

The pavement was damp and darkened under his feet. The smell of wet gravel and mud filled the air. The rain was pouring down so hard, it was difficult to see very well. Unless, of course, you're the son of Poseidon.

The second the first rain drop hit the top of Percy's head, his whole body surged with power. He stood up straight, his expression hardened, and he uncapped Riptide. He watched the monster spew venom onto the roof of the bus. "And apparently, an acidic spraying one. Do you have your-"

Mike nodded, revealing his 20 inch celestial bronze knife. It radiated power. Percy thought about asking him if he was ready, but Mike's eyes were obvious enough. _No_. Mike wasn't ready.

But they didn't really have a choice.

"Let's go."

They went around the other side of the bus, the side by the empty road. Percy was ready for the drakon to attack, but it's attention was towards a girl.

The girl in the rain had on an orange t-shirt and jeans. Her honey cinnamon hair was drenched, water dripped from every part of her. Although she held a 2 foot sword at her side, she looked scared. The drakon sprayed his venom toward her, but she rolled to the right and dodged it just in time.

Percy and Mike sprinted to her side. "Calypso, what are you doing?!"

She looked at him, fear radiating only from her eyes. "I don't know!"

Mike and Calypso stood at either side of the drakon, stabbing it's scales and dodging it's breath. A group of teenagers came running out of a parked blue pilot across the street.

Once they fully came into view, Percy yelled at them. "Leo, Nico, Ashley, try to get the mortals to safety."

They all rolled to the side, dodging another puff of acid. "What are you gonna do about death breath?" Leo asked, pushing his wet hair out of his face. "Not Nico, the drakon," he clarified.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"Just get them to safety!" Annabeth ordered.

The three nodded and ran towards the bus.

Percy looked at Annabeth.

Her hair was soaking, dripping down her back and shoulders. Her grey eyes filled with worry. Her blue v-neck clung to her skin. Her once light jeans were now darkened with water.

She looked stunning.

Percy lifted his hand and lightly touched her cheek. She instantly dried, only to be dampened again by the constant pour of rain. Her lips twitched into a little smile, but then it disappeared. She opened her mouth to say something, but he silenced her with a hard kiss. He melted into her. Her hands gripped onto his dry messy hair while his tangled in her long wet hair.

Nothing but themselves and the pouring rain.

That is, until Calypso rolled into their legs. They stumbled, but held their ground. "Oh, don't mind me. Just dodging an acid spraying drakon! Any help?" Calypso begged.

Percy snapped into battle mode. Annabeth seemed to as well. She unsheathed her new sword that she got after the war, kissed his cheek, and ran toward the monster. Percy followed, Riptide gleaming in the rain.

Mike, Calypso, Annabeth, and Percy all poked, stabbed, and rolled. But the drakon held it's ground. As Percy dodged another steam ball of acid, he tried to rack his brain around the situation.

_Okay, can't break past it's scales to stab it. Just like the Nemean Lion. Styx, how'd I defeat him?_

_Oh yeah._

_The mouth._

"Annabeth!" he shouted. "The mouth, aim for the mouth! Nemean Lion, remember?"

She tried to break through another scale with no avail and sighed tiredly. "How'm I supposed to do that?"

_Oh yeah. Acid._

Then something else caught Percy's attention.

Leo, Ashley, and Nico were leading the (very confused and scared) swim team away from the monster with little luck. The mortals were all gaping at whatever they thought they saw, only being about 30 feet away.

Then, the drakon noticed them as well. And Percy swore, he saw it grin. The monster advanced toward the group of mortals, but Leo, Ashley, and Nico had their backs turned. "Percy! Mike! What are you doing!? What is that?!" Andrew yelled. He stood closest to the monster, 20 feet away.

But before Percy could answer, the drakon opened it's mouth. And before Percy could think, he was already in the air. Jumping, flying, blocking.

And everything went dark.

* * *

Annabeth:

In the rain, everything seems to be different. Time, for one thing.

Her kiss with Percy seemed to last for hours while it was happening, but now, looking back, it felt like it only lasted for a second.

It seemed like she'd been stabbing the drakon for hours. Sweat mixed with rain droplets as she dodged and rolled.

But when Percy jumped in front of Andrew, time seemed to slow down and speed up. Like molasses, Percy seemed to be in the air for hours. Annabeth wanted to scream. She wanted to jump in front of him. She wanted to pull him back down. But like water in a creek, Percy seemed to be in the air for a millisecond. The second his feet took off from the ground, they were back on it. Laying lifeless between the captain of the swim team and a murderous drakon.

Yet, not until Percy hit the ground could Annabeth finally move her feet. She rushed to him, tears mixing with rain, and rolled him over. The acid was already causing blisters on his skin, his shirt was slowly dissolving. She reached in her pocket and stuffed ambrosia in his mouth, but it didn't seem to be doing anything.

Another tear rolled down her cheek. "Percy?!"

Then, the rain did its weird time thing again. And suddenly the drakon was laying on the ground, sputtering and slowly disintegrating into dust with bubbles foaming from it's mouth. Calypso stood next to it, her sword in hand, panting like a mad man. "I think I killed him."

Annabeth had the nerve to let out a light chuckle. "Ya think?"

"She had the final blow, yes. But I think I helped," said a voice.

Annabeth turned around to see a group of middle school girls standing strong. They were all wearing the same thing; a white shirt, a silver jack, silver camo pants, and black boots. The girl who spoke stood in the front holding a bow.. Even through the drizzle of the rain, Annabeth could see her strikingly blue eyes. Her short black hair was messy and spiky, like usual.

"Thalia!" Annabeth cried. "Percy, he… he got… acid… I don't-"

"Phoebe. Cami. Heal him," Thalia commanded.

The two hunters that were spoken to hesitated and looked over at a smaller girl who stood by Thalia. Her presence was peaceful and she looked to be about 13. The girl smiled warmly. "Please, help the boy."

Cami lifted a brow. "But, my lady-"

"He is a hero of Olympus and a friend. Please, help the boy," the girl repeated.

Phoebe and Cami rushed to Percy's side. Annabeth tried to watch the hunters as they helped Percy, but Annabeth's eyes were fixed on the young girl. "Artemis," she breathed.

"You look well, Annabeth Chase," the goddess smiled warmly.

That's a lie. Annabeth did in fact look terrible. But she knew better than to argue with a goddess.

Someone coughed and Annabeth turned around to notice the entire New York Prep High School swim team staring back at her. They each were just standing there; either too shocked or scared to speak or move.

"Ah, yes," Artemis said. Annabeth watched her purse her lips. "The mortals. Thalia?"

"Yes, my lady?" Thalia answered.

"Would you help the mortals, ah, make sense of this situation?"

Thalia nodded understandingly and walked over to the group of wet, confused teenagers and two shocked adults. As Annabeth had seen Thalia do many times, she held up her hands defensively and began to speak to them slowly.

"Good thing you're all alright. We pulled over after we saw you crash. That must've been frightening, having a deer jump out in front of the bus. Good thing no one got hurt."

Every mortal was listening intently. They all nodded agreeingly. It worked, the mist worked. But then, Annabeth got an idea. These poor mortals were almost killed by a monster that was just trying to get demigods. Annabeth stood up and whispered something to Thalia. Thalia nodded.

"Good thing that these people," she gestured to the demigods, "Annabeth, Percy, Leo, Calypso, Mike, Ashley, and Nico, whom you've never met before, were here to call the cops."

"We…" Alex stood in the front next to Andrew. He pursed his lips in confusion. "We… don't know them?"

Thalia shook her head. "Nope, you've never met them before in your life."

"In my life…" Alex repeated.

Thalia raised her hand and snapped her fingers. The mortals looked dazed for a moment, but then snapped back to reality. Well, their version of reality.

Coach Boone walked around to make sure that each swimmer wasn't injured in the crash. Alex was asking Tyler if he knew where the deer went. Phil was explaining to Connor how he was sitting in the front and saw the deer jump in front of the bus. They all looked pretty shaken up.

That is, except for Andrew.

His eyebrows were pushed together as he studied the pile of dust that was a drakon. The drizzle of the rain was slowly turning it into mud. Andrew kept his eyes locked on it with a worried expression, as if the mud pile would turn back into a monster.

* * *

_**A/N: "how's thalia help kill the drakon?!"**_

_**"why'd the hunters just randomly show up?!"**_

_**"is percy gonna be okay?"**_

_**"why did annabeth make thalia erase the mortals memories of the demigods?!"**_

_**"what's happening with Ashley and Nico?!"**_

_**"I thought you were still keeping Nico gay!" (i am)**_

_**shhh little readers, don't cry. All your questions will be answered due time. until then, happy reading(:**_


	28. Chapter 28 - Another New Start

_**A/N: Yay update! So this is chapter 28 and also the second to last chapter! Idk maybe one more. An epilogue or something?**_

* * *

Annabeth:

"More tea?" the goddess asked.

Annabeth shook her head. "No, ma'am. Thank you." She tried to sit up straight so she came off strong and respectful, but the attempt was worthless. Her mind kept wandering to Percy. She knew that he was laying unconscious in the Big House with only Will, Phoebe, and Cami to help.

_Don't cry, dammit._

"He'll be okay," Artemis told her, as if reading Annabeth's mind.

They both sat with their legs crossed on the floor of the Artemis cabin, an animal pelt under them. The walls were lined with other kills from the hunters. Annabeth couldn't make out which animal was which, but the thought of all of the dead animals made her shudder.

The low table between the demigod and the goddess had only a candle, two cups of tea, and a full tea pot. Since it was dark outside, the only source of light was the small candle; yet it lit up the whole room with a dim light.

"I bet you're wondering why we showed up when we did," Artemis asked.

"Yes, and how you helped kill it."

A light smile played on the young goddesses lips. "That was not me. It was my faithful lieutenant and your friend. Thalia Grace," she explained. "When the monster was about to make its final blow, Thalia shot a soap arrow into its mouth."

Annabeth lifted a brow. "Soap arrow?" she asked.

The radiant girl poured herself more tea and lifted the boiling cup to her lips. "Yes, quick thinking on her part. The soap countered the acid. Yet the monster would not have perished without the titan's daughter."

Annabeth's heartbeat speed up. Oh gods, would Artemis be upset that they took in a daughter of a titan. Annabeth bit her lip.

"She is a good addition to your camp. Her heart is strong," Artemis told her.

Phew.

"You don't regret it," Artemis said.

"What, ma'am?" Annabeth asked.

She casually took another sip of her burning tea. At first, Annabeth wondered how she didn't burn her tongue. And then she remembered: oh duh, goddess. "Declining my invitation to join the hunt. You made the right decision."

"All due respect, ma'am, yes. I made the right choice. I don't have that strong of a stomach, the hunting would get to me."

To Annabeth's surprise, the goddess laughed lightly. "That, I don't doubt. But I was referring to Percy."

The sound of his name made Annabeth sit up straighter, lift her chin a little higher. "Oh… yes. Him too."

Before Artemis could respond, the door to the cabin opened. Thalia peeked in her head. "I'm sorry to interrupt, my lady, but kept hea- I mean, Percy is awake."

Annabeth jumped up and practically sprinted to the door. When she realized what she just did, she stopped and turn around. "I'm so sorry, ma'am. But, may I?"

A small smile played on Artemis's lips. "I'm proud to see how you've grown, daughter of Athena. I'm sure your mother is as well. Yes, go to him."

Annabeth smiled ear to ear. "Thank you, my lady," and she ran out the door and toward the Big House. It was a little cold out, but she didn't care. Percy… he was awake!

She let herself in to the Big House and ran up towards the infirmary. The door was slightly ajar, so she swung it open. Percy laid on one of the infirmary beds. Phoebe, Cami, and Will sat on chairs around him. When Annabeth came in, all three of them stood up. "Come on guys, let's give 'em a minute," Will said.

Annabeth ran to his side and tucked one of her loose strands of hair behind her ear. When she looked down at her boyfriend, he gave her a small sheepish small. Annabeth's heart immediately melted. She sat down on the chair next to his bed and scooted it closer to him.

She grabbed his hand with hers and brushed his long bangs out of his face with her other. "My gods, seaweed brain. What were you thinking! You can't just jump in front of…"

He reached his hand up and touched her cheek. Annabeth felt her face flush. Percy wiped a tear that was running down her cheek. She hadn't even noticed that she was crying. He smiled at her. "I'm fine, wise girl."

Annabeth tried to hold back the tears, but she couldn't help it. She'd been staying strong ever since they got to camp, and now she was coming apart.

Percy scooted over to the far side of the little bed and opened up his arms. "Come 'eer."

She sighed and gave in, laying down next to him. She rested her head on his chest and listened to his heart beat. Percy's arms wrapped around her as he kissed the top of her head. She wrapped her leg around his middle. Silent tears dampened his shirt.

Percy stroked her hair. "I love you. Do you know that?"

She nodded against his chest. He pulled her in tighter. "I love you too," she mumbled.

They laid like for a little while. Annabeth enjoyed the sound of her boyfriend's breathing and heartbeat. Her eyes began to feel heavy, but she didn't have time to fall asleep. "Hey, Annabeth?" Percy asked.

"Hm?" she mumbled.

"Why'd you do it?"

"What?" she asked.

"Have Thalia wipe everyone's memory? What about the rest of the school?"

Annabeth shrugged in her boyfriend's strong arms. "Chiron said that he's going in tomorrow to fix the rest of the school. By the first bell tomorrow morning, the mist will trick everyone into thinking that we were never there."

"Okay," he said, "but, why? I mean, I didn't really like school so I'm not complaining, but you didn't seem to have a problem with it."

"I guess it's just that when the drakon attacked, I realized how different our world is to their world."

Annabeth looked up and met Percy's dazzling green eyes while his eyebrows pushed together. "Our world _is_ their world," he told her.

"Yeah," she agreed, "but they don't have to know it. High school… it's not our fight."

And with that, Annabeth snuggled into her boyfriends arms and drifted to sleep.

* * *

Piper (two weeks later):

"Leo, this is the stupidest idea you've had in a long time," Piper sighed, her hands tightening around the steering wheel.

Leo laughed from the front seat and stuck his head out the window like a dog. "I know," he grinned, "I'm slacking."

Piper tugged on her braid like she did when she was nervous. Jason must have noticed, because he leaned forward and rubbed her shoulder. "You okay, Pipes?" She made eye contact with him through her rear view mirror and nodded. He must have known that she was lying, because he flashed her his bright (and attractive) white smile and rubbed her shoulder again. "I don't know why you go along with what Leo says. Or why I'm sitting in the back…" he mumbled.

Leo must have heard his name, because he sat back down comfortably in his seat and smiled. "You both go along with what I say because I'm Leo and you're both my minions. And you're sitting in the back, Jason, because I called shotgun. And you, being a honorable member of society, respect the rules of the shotgun."

"That doesn't defeat the fact that this idea is terrible," Jason countered.

"Well, it's too late cause we're here!" Leo said.

The parking lot was packed. The types of car's ranged from '96 Hondas to brand new mustangs. The classic school parking lot. There were no students to be seen, which didn't surprise Piper considering that it was still 2:20 and school didn't get out for 10 more minutes.

As Piper pulled their blue pilot into an empty spot in one of the visitors spaces, she rolled all of the windows down. She turned the car off and pulled herself up on the empty door. Her legs hung on the drivers seat, her upper body out the window, her hands gripping the rails on the top of the car. Leo copied her position and then lifted himself on top of the car, laying down. Jason crawled into the front seat and made himself comfortable, sticking his legs out the open window.

"Yo," Leo snapped at Jason without looking. "Don't sit in my seat."

But Jason just shrugged and set his sunglasses over his eyes. "Not your seat anymore, tool boy."

Leo hit his head against the car and groaned.

Piper thought it was nice to be with her guys again. Just them three, like old times. Isn't it sad that some of Piper's happiest memories are when she's running for her life? Actually, now to think about it, she's always running for her life.

Except for right now.

How long will that last, though, really?

The school bell rang, echoing throughout the small campus and parking lot. Leo sat up and Jason peeked out the window, taking this sunglasses off. Within a couple seconds, students began to pour from the front gates of New York Prep High School.

None of them gave the demigods a second glance.

Piper watched as a group of girls from her math class laughed about something and got into the car next to them.

They didn't recognize Piper. Of course, what else should she expect? Chiron had a way with the mist. But still, it kind of made Piper sad. Piper slumped back down into the drivers seat and turned on the music. Jason set his hand on Piper's thigh. "You sure you're alright?" he asked.

She nodded and watched more teenagers stroll by.

Suddenly, she made eye contact with a familiar senior. His brown eyes pushed together in confusion before widening in recognition. "Oh shit…" Piper mumbled. But instead of grabbing Leo and driving away as fast as she could, she just sat and watched the boy approach the car.

"I… I knew it! Piper! Jason! Leo!" The boy in the letterman jacket said as he walked up to Piper's window. He looked… relieved.

Piper had no idea what to say. How'd he remember them? She decided to play it cool. "I'm sorry, do you mean us?" she asked innocently. "I'm Penelope, this is my boyfriend Jacob-"

"Cut the bullshit, I know it's you guys," Andrew said.

Leo slid off the roof of the car and walked around to where Andrew stood. He lifted his hand up like he was about to do a card trick and said in a 'magical' voice. "You don't know us… we're not here…!"

But Andrew just lifted an eyebrow and moved Leo's hand away from his face. "Yes… I do, Leo. You guys were part of the superhero group that just disappeared a couple weeks ago. I thought I was going crazy! No one remembers you guys."

"But…" Piper said timidly, "you do?"

He rolled his eyes. "Duh."

Uh oh.

* * *

Ashley:

Ashley didn't mean for it to happen. It just… _did_.

She dodged Nico's iron sword and rolled to her right, wiping a speck of sweat off of her forehead. Instead of attacking again, Nico just smirked and crossed his arms. "You know, you can't just dodge me all day. You're gonna have to strike."

Ashley rolled her eyes and stood up, tightening her long blond ponytail. "I'm just trying to survive."

"Well…" Nico reached down into a bag and pulled out two small hand towels, "you're gonna get tired just defending. You gotta attack." He tossed a towel to her. The first thing she noticed when she grabbed it, was that it was a perfectly refreshing temperature, yet it was dry. "How…?"

"Lou Ellen, daughter of Hecate. She enchanted a bunch of hand towels for sparring and monster fighting classes," he answered.

While Nico rubbed his face into the towel, Ashley studied him. He'd grown taller in the couple months she'd known him. Even though it was hot out, Nico wore his favorite black jeans. Yet somehow, the campers got him to wear an orange CHB t-shirt around camp, which he wore now. He wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and picked up his sword. "Round 5?"

Ashley shook herself out of her gaze and nodded, standing in position. They jabbed back and forth for a while and Ashley began to feel stronger. Nico made a mistake of not planting his right foot strong enough, so with one quick maneuver, Ashley hit the hilt of his sword, sending it flying to the right and Nico flying to the ground.

Ashley leaned down and pressed her arm against his chest. "Ha ha," she said with a grin.

Nico smiled and shook his head. "Nice. See what happens whe-"

She cut him off by pressing her lips against his. She'd been waiting to kiss him for so long, she'd imagined it so many times. Yet, what she got wasn't what she'd expected. Their lips didn't… move well together.

Ashley pulled back and got off of him, embarrassed. "I'm so… so sorry… I just…"

She stopped herself when she saw that Nico hadn't moved. Or spoke. Or… was he alive?

"Nico?" she asked, timidly.

She heard him let out a deep breath and watched him sit up slowly. He pulled his knees toward his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs. He rested his forehead on his knee caps, leaning forward.

Ashley didn't know what to do. A thousand thoughts swirling in her mind. But before she had time to survey them all, she noticed that he was crying.

Was she that bad of a kisser?

"Nico… I'm… I'm sorry," she stuttered, "I'm sorry if… if I-"

"No," he mumbled, cutter her off, "it's not your fault." He tried to subtly wipe the tears from his eyes and look up. "I guess I was… unclear."

Ashley was so confused. Was she ugly? No, they didn't flirt… but they were good friends. Ashley just thought-

"I'm gay," Nico said quickly, like the words were poison.

Ashley froze. For some reason, the arena they were sparring in seemed to darken. The sun didn't shine as bright. Ashley thought it was her imagination, but when she looked back at Nico, a large shadow was growing from where he sat.

Ashley got to her feet. "Nico… I…"

"Just go!" he yelled as the shadow swallowed the rest of the arena and Ashley ran out.

* * *

**_A/N: Nico came out to Ashley after she kissed him! drama drama drama. Also Andrew remembers them which means... he remembers that Percy saved his life! Whoa. whoa whoa. _**

**_so i'm gonna do (for sure) one more chapter and maybe an epilogue or something idk._**


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